


Ulterior Motives

by triste



Category: Bleach
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-21
Updated: 2012-11-21
Packaged: 2017-11-19 05:14:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/569509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triste/pseuds/triste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Ichigo finally gets a clue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Ulterior Motives  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Bleach  
Pairing: Ishida/Ichigo  
Rating: PG-13  
Status: Complete (1/5)  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

It was Valentine's Day. Probably the most annoying and pointless day of the year in Ichigo's opinion, but it didn't seem to stop people from celebrating it anyway. He'd never really been popular with girls anyway, so it suited him just fine to stick to his corner by the window and scowl fiercely at nothing in particular.

Every now and again, though, he'd glance over at the other side of the classroom to check up on Rukia. Ichigo could practically see the sparkles surrounding her whenever she did that ridiculous curtsey, and that sickly-sweet smile sent shivers down his spine for all the wrong reasons. Seeing her like that often gave him the creeps in any case, so it didn't take long for his scowl to slip back into place as he directed his attention back to the window.

Unfortunately, he kept getting interrupted, first by Inoue, who for some strange reason had offered him a banana and peanut butter jelly cupcake. Ichigo had accepted it from her with an expression of terror which she'd mistaken for awe before Tatsuki swept her off again, and Ichigo hadn't bothered to spend anymore time pondering the matter.

Keigo had been the second one to wander over to his desk, but that had only been to whine over the fact that the 'lovely Rukia-chan' hadn't bothered to give him anything special. Ichigo eventually managed to wave him away, but Keigo kept returning at odd intervals, mostly to piss him off, so when Ichigo noticed the shadow that fell across his desk, he was ready to grab Keigo and throw him out the window before he could even open his mouth.

The snarl died on his lips, however, when he saw who it really was. Ishida Uryu was standing over him solemnly, and Ichigo tried not to shrink back into his seat. He *hated* those freaky glasses that Ishida wore, because usually, it meant not being able to see his eyes, and that always made Ichigo feel uneasy. The fact that they tended to give that menacing glint from time to time didn't help matters either...

Still, Ichigo managed to recover his composure somewhat as he craned his neck a little so that he could stare up at Ishida. Looking up to someone was another thing that he hated. He'd been big and gangly for as long as he could remember, so it was a rare thing indeed for him to come across someone who was even taller than he was. It made him feel uncomfortable, and he really didn't need that right now. He'd been agitated enough over this whole Valentine thing, but if Ishida decided that he wanted to challenge him to another fight...

Of course, there was also another reason why Ishida might have approached him. Ichigo couldn't hear the beeping of Rukia's cell phone, but Ishida was a Quincy. He'd never needed to wait for orders from the Soul Society in order to locate his targets. That was why Ichigo's voice was hushed when he finally chose to speak to his classmate.

"What's with the face? Do you sense something bad?"

Ishida merely shook his head and Ichigo relaxed somewhat. Okay, so it wasn't a Hollow, but it still didn't explain why Ishida had sought him out. He didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to enlighten Ichigo either, and Ichigo tried not to twitch as he waited for Ishida to get the words out of his mouth.

Unfortunately, Ishida didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, but then again, he didn't really *need* to say anything as he shoved a small, plain box onto Ichigo's desk. Ichigo gawked at it, but Ishida just continued to stare down at him for a few seconds longer before turning on his heel and marching off.

Ichigo was too much in shock to pay him any attention, but after a minute or so of continued gawking, he finally began to wonder if he ought to open up the box.

He gingerly lifted the lid, but before he could catch a glimpse of the contents, he slammed it shut again as his heart began to pound. Maybe Ishida had given him a bomb that would explode the very second he took off the lid...or maybe it was some sort of mini-Hollow that would leap on Ichigo and suck off his face if he didn't keep up his guard...

After a brief period of dithering, Ichigo finally stuffed the box into his pocket and strode over to where Rukia was.

"We need to talk," he told her gruffly, ignoring the protests coming from her many admirers. Grabbing her arm, he led her out of the classroom and kept on walking until they finally found a relatively peaceful spot. Rukia looked slightly miffed at being manhandled, but she smiled slyly up at Ichigo and fluttered her eyelashes.

"What's the matter, Kurosaki-kun?" she cooed. "Too shy to give me your present in front of your classmates?"

Ichigo nearly threw up. "Enough with the act already. This is important."

That was all it took for Rukia to be all seriousness. "What's wrong? Is there a Hollow nearby? Is it close? Do you need me to transform you into a Shinigami?"

"No, no, and no. I have to show you something." And with that, Ichigo handed her the box.

Rukia took it from him and stared at it in puzzlement. "I fail to see what the problem is here...unless..." She fluttered her eyelashes again. "Kurosaki-kun, you're so cute. Are you asking me to be your sweetheart?"

Ichigo twitched. "It's not for you. It was given to me."

Rukia looked confused. "Then why did *you* just give it to *me*?"

"I want you to look at it."

"Wouldn't that be rude? It's your present after all."

"You've never worried about being impolite before, so just open it already."

Now Rukia was suspicious. "Why me? Who gave it to you anyway?"

Ichigo glanced back over his shoulder nervously before whispering out, "Ishida."

Rukia stared at him with wide eyes. "The Quincy? He gave *you* a Valentine's gift?"

Ichigo nodded urgently. "Yeah, now do you see why I was worried?"

Rukia shook the box hesitantly. "It doesn't seem to be dangerous. I don't sense anything evil from it, either." She pried the lid off slowly, as if expecting something to leap out and attack her. Her face was full of surprise, however, as she handed the box back over to Ichigo. "I think it's...chocolate..."

"*Chocolate*?"

Sure enough, it was. Inside the box were eight little pieces of heart-shaped candy wrapped up neatly in silver foil. Rukia gazed at them hungrily.

"They look really nice, too..."

Ichigo smacked her hand before she could reach out and take one. "Don't eat them! They might be poisoned!"

Rukia frowned at him sceptically. "Why would they be poisoned?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Oh, I don't know...maybe because the guy hates my guts? Because he wants to see me dead?"

"You're overestimating things," Rukia told him sternly. "Besides, you're not his enemy. It's the Hollows he's after, not you."

"But why else would he give me candy?"

"How should I know? I'm a Shinigami, not a psychic!" Now it was Rukia's turn to smack Ichigo's hand away as she picked out one of the candy pieces. "Look, it's probably just normal chocolate, okay? But just in case it isn't, *I'll* do the honour of testing it for you, so even if is *is* poisoned, it wouldn't do anything to hurt me, seeing as I'm already dead."

Ichigo was speechless. "Rukia...I never knew you cared so much about my safety..."

Rukia, however, ignored him. "Besides, these things look absolutely delicious! It would be a crime *not* to eat them!"

Ichigo deflated visibly. "So that's it. You just can't resist the lure of chocolate, can you?"

"Oh shut up. I'm doing you a favour."

Rukia popped the chocolate into her mouth and began munching on it. Ichigo watched her anxiously, half-expecting her to suddenly keel over and start choking or hacking up blood. Rukia did neither.

"They really *are* delicious! Are you sure you don't want them?"

Ichigo blinked. "They're really all right?"

Rukia beamed. "Of course they are! Here, try one."

Ichigo did so, and was surprised to find that Rukia was right. They really *did* taste good.

"You don't usually see this type of stuff in stores," Rukia said thoughtfully. "They look as though they were home-made."

Ichigo only grew even more confused. "Why would *Ishida* make so much effort just for *me*?"

Rukia shrugged. Ichigo shuddered.

"Ugh, I don't want to think about it anymore. Let's go back to class, okay?"

 

~~

 

"Sheesh, you look as though you've stolen the entire contents of a chocolate factory," Ichigo said grumpily as he sat himself down at his desk. Rukia waved her finger at him admonishingly.

"Now, now, there's no need to get jealous. If you're a good boy, I'll think about sharing some of it with you."

Ichigo turned his nose up immediately. "I don't *want* any of your God-damned chocolate!"

Rukia shook her head sadly. "So insolent. You see, *this* is why *I* have presents and you don't. If you just made more of an effort to fit in and be friendly towards people, they wouldn't find you quite as frightening."

Ichigo made an irritated noise. "Like I said, I don't *want* any freaking chocolate, and I don't feel like fitting in, either."

Rukia shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then she started rubbing her hands together gleefully. "I think I'll start on *this* box after dinner, though, seeing as it looks so tasty. I'm saving the chocolate bunny till last, because I can't find the heart to eat him just yet."

Ichigo twitched. "*Him*?"

Rukia frowned. "Yes, *him*. You're just jealous because you didn't pick a gender for him first."

Ichigo couldn't even think of a reply for that one, and instead, he just let it slide. He'd taken the precaution of locking his bedroom door this time, so Rukia would have plenty of time to dive into his cupboard, should Yuzu or Karin come knocking at his door. His father, of course, tended to just barge right in, but even a locked door ought to give Ichigo some measure of privacy.

It was probably a good thing too, seeing as Rukia was currently sprawled across his bed, surrounded by boxes of chocolate. She kept organising them into neat little piles as she designated days of the week for them to be eaten on, and Ichigo decided to just leave her to it, at least until Rukia chose to speak up again.

"Hey, what are you getting Ishida for White Day?"

Ichigo choked on thin air. "*What* did you say?! And how do you know what White Day is, anyway?"

Rukia looked offended. "Don't be so surprised. When I lost my Shinigami powers, I took the time to study today's youth, their attitudes, their colloquialisms, and their traditions before I entered my faux body. How's that for dedication to my work?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You never studied, you just read *manga*."

Again, Rukia looked wounded. "You learn a lot through those things, you know. Anyway, I bought this one book a couple of weeks ago, and it was all about this thing called 'boy's love', and these two guys-"

Ichigo was horrified. "Have you been bringing porn under my roof again?"

"It was very tasteful, for your information, and it was also a very touching love story. Would you like to borrow it?"

Ichigo could only shudder. "*Hell* no."

"Are you sure? You might even pick up some tips from it."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

Rukia shrugged. "You're the one with the admirer. You tell me."

Ichigo glowered. "Ishida is *not* my admirer. He's just some creepy guy who hates my guts because I’m a Shinigami and happens to fight Hollows with me."

"And gives you candy."

"And gives me...no, no, don't say that! It sounds too weird!"

"But you have to get him something in return, otherwise you might hurt his feelings."

"Ishida has feelings?"

Rukia leaned over and cuffed Ichigo on the back of the head. "Don't be so mean. Just think about the courage that poor, shy boy must have needed to gather in order to give a token of his love to the one who holds his heart!"

Ichigo could have vomited after that little description. "Don't be so disgusting! Who the Hell's a poor, shy boy anyway? And what's all this about a token?"

Rukia's expression was pitying. "Only the saddest, loneliest child is unable to recognise love whenever it is offered to him."

"That's it. I forbid you from reading anymore manga. It makes your brain turn into mush and your mouth spout out the floweriest load of crap I've ever heard in my life."

"So you're not getting him anything then?"

"Why should I?"

"Because *he* got something for *you*?"

Ichigo leaned down and thunked his head against his desk repeatedly, hoping that Rukia would get the message and shut up. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's too strange."

"What's so strange about it?"

"Other than the fact that I'm a guy who got a present from *another* guy on Valentine's Day?"

"That isn't odd. *I* got chocolate from all the other girls in our class today."

"Well, yeah, but that's okay, because it's a girl thing. They're supposed to hand out chocolate to their friends, as well as the guys that they know. Apparently, they call it Being Polite, but really, it's just an excuse for them to waste all of their money on trash."

Rukia looked very defensive all of a sudden. "You shouldn't talk about chocolate in that way! And why is it okay for two girls to give a Valentine's gift to each other but not for two guys?"

Ichigo was frustrated. "Because that's not how it works! Every year on February the fourteenth, girls buy something for the guys, and then a month after that, the guys return their favour by giving something to the girls. It's a stupid tradition and I've never bothered following it before."

"Why is it stupid?"

"Because it just *is*! Besides, what are people going to think if they see me giving *Ishida* something for White Day? They'll probably start thinking that I'm some sort of freak!"

Rukia raised one eyebrow delicately. "You've never cared about what people think of you before."

Ichigo glared at her. "Well, this is different."

"How so?"

"Because Ishida isn't a *girl*!"

"That doesn't mean to say that you can't still buy him something."

"I don't *want* to buy him *anything*!"

Rukia just patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Ichigo, I'll help you pick something out. After all, who better to give you advice on a womanly gift than a woman herself?"

Ichigo's fingers twitched with the urge to wrap themselves around Rukia's neck and give it a damn good squeeze. "I hate you. You know that, right?"

 

~~

 

“Rukia, we’ve been wandering around this mall for *hours* now! Can’t we just go home already?”

“Absolutely not! Besides, I haven’t decided on anything yet.”

“Look, let’s just go into the first confectionary store we see and buy something from there, okay?”

“Nope. This is a gift that you have to put some thought into.”

Rukia’s good mood was really starting to annoy Ichigo, and he hated crowds at the best of times anyway. There was still a week to go before White Day arrived, and already Ichigo could see various males dithering over what sort of gifts to buy for their girlfriends.

“Look at them,” he snorted. “Pathetic. It’s like they’re slaves to tradition. *Real* men wouldn’t bother demeaning themselves in such a way.”

“Well, obviously, you don’t mind demeaning yourself either, otherwise you wouldn’t be here with me right now,” Rukia pointed out to him.

“I’m here because *you* forced me to come along,” Ichigo reminded her through gritted teeth. Rukia ignored his agitation.

“Stop whining. Okay, you can buy chocolate, but you have to get three boxes, as well as a little something extra on top of that.”

“*Three* boxes? Don’t you think that’s overkill?”

“No, one is for the Quincy, one is for that Inoue girl and the other is for me.”

Ichigo paused to think for a moment. “I guess that makes sense, seeing as Inoue *did* give me that weird cupcake thing...” Then he scowled. “Wait a minute! Why should I buy chocolate for *you*? You never bothered to buy *me* anything!”

Rukia smiled sweetly. “*I’m* your precious partner, remember? You’d be lost without me around. You ought to be grateful for my concern.”

Ichigo cursed under his breath about irritating freeloaders, but again, Rukia completely ignored him.

“Look, if you’re going to be that stubborn about it, why don’t we just call in at the arts and crafts store and get the Quincy guy something from there? He likes sewing, doesn’t he? You also said that he’s a member of the school handicrafts club.”

Ichigo blinked. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Now we have it all sorted out, so let’s hurry up and get this over with.”

Unfortunately for Ichigo, Rukia’s demand for speediness was immediately forgotten the second they stepped into the arts and crafts store...

“Ichigo, look! They have guidebooks that tell you how to knit your very own plush bunny! Can I have one?”

“No.”

“Okay...so can I have the ‘embroider your own bunny pattern’ kit instead?”

“Rukia, you don’t even know *how* to embroider, so why would you want something like that?”

“Because it has a bunny on it. It’s cute. Girls like this sort of thing!”

“I’m not buying for a *girl*, I’m buying for *Ishida*!”

“So maybe he likes bunnies too?”

Ichigo threw his hands up in the air with a snarl. “Fine, fine. Get whatever the Hell you want.”

Rukia frowned, taken-aback by his sudden viciousness, and Ichigo forced himself to calm down a little.

“I’m just tired, all right? I’ve never liked shopping in the first place, and crowds piss me off, so forget what I said, okay? You can have that bunny thing if you want it so badly.”

It wasn’t exactly an apology but Rukia accepted it anyway. “You don’t have to...like you said, I don’t even know how to knit...”

Ichigo sighed. “It’s a guidebook, isn’t it? So that means it’ll have instructions. I’m not good at this sort of thing, but I’ll help you figure it out if you want.”

Rukia nodded and smiled. “We’re a great team. Together, we will always persevere.”

“Aa.”

Well, that had cheered Rukia up, but Ichigo could feel the years of hard work that he’d taken to maintain his tough guy image crumbling around him. Learning how to knit with Rukia...buying presents for White Day...

If this kept up, not even the teachers at school would be suspicious or uneasy around him anymore. Instead of giving out warnings about that ‘foul-mouthed orange-headed trouble-maker,’ they’d soon be telling each other about that ‘nice, respectable Kurosaki-kun’...

 

~~

 

Finally, White Day had arrived, and Ichigo found himself loitering behind in the locker room as he waited for Ishida to show up. Although Rukia had known the reason for his staying behind, the rest of the gang had been somewhat confused (with the exception of Inoue, who never questioned anything too much), but eventually, after a bit of teasing about some secret lover, they’d disappeared, leaving Ichigo to sweat out his wait.

He knew that Ishida was usually the first to arrive at class and the last one to leave. He also knew that Ishida was neat and meticulous, and would most likely store away the text books that he wouldn’t be needing for the rest of the week before heading off home.

His prediction paid off, and although Ishida raised an eyebrow when he saw Ichigo waiting for him, he didn’t say a word as he went about his business. Ichigo’s palms were damp and he knew that he was scowling. It took effort for him not to start fidgeting on the spot, and he couldn’t figure out for the life of him why he’d gotten so nervous all of a sudden.

When Ishida turned his attention on Ichigo, Ichigo looked away quickly as he felt his face turn red.

“Here,” he grunted, shoving his packages in Ishida’s direction. Ishida’s expression didn’t change as he accepted Ichigo’s gift, but Ichigo watched out of the corner of his eye as the other boy unwrapped his things.

He fought the urge to growl in annoyance as Ishida took his time undoing the gift-wrap, opening up his presents as neatly as everything else that he did. Yet more proof that Ishida wasn’t normal like everybody else...

When he finally looked over at Ishida again, the other boy’s face was still expressionless, giving Ichigo no clue as to whether or not he liked his gifts. Ishida seemed to notice his staring, because he lifted his own gaze and fixed it on Ichigo’s own.

“The past few weeks have been rather enjoyable...wouldn’t you say so, Kurosaki?”

Ichigo could have exploded. “*Enjoyable*? For who?!”

Ishida continued to stare at him evenly. “For me.” Ichigo must have looked fairly blank, so Ishida decided to explain himself. “I believe you were surprised when I gave you something for Valentine’s Day. Is that correct?”

Ichigo nodded mutely.

“I also believe that it led you to feel...uneasy...confused...disturbed. Am I right?”

Again, Ichigo nodded as he wondered what the Hell Ishida was getting at.

“You felt that way for a whole month, didn’t you? You had no idea how to act around me anymore...you started to question my motives, as well as yourself...”

By this time, Ichigo had gone from looking blank to looking irritated. “So, what’s your point?”

Ishida smirked and took one step closer. Ichigo didn’t back away, and eventually, Ishida had closed the distance between them until he was far too near for Ichigo’s comfort. That was when he leaned in and murmured into Ichigo’s ear.

“I like seeing you squirm, Kurosaki Ichigo.”

Rather than being embarrassed, Ichigo saw red.

“You *bastard*! You did this on purpose, just so that you could get a laugh at my expense! Why I oughta-”

But before he could say anything else, Ishida leaned in again. He didn’t murmur into Ichigo’s ear this time, though. Instead, he chose to kiss him. Ichigo’s eyes widened in shock and his entire body seemed to freeze up at the feeling of Ishida’s lips pressing feather-light against his own.

He barely even had time to register the sensation before Ishida drew back, smirking once again.

“You look good like that,” he said blandly.

Ichigo didn’t respond. He didn’t think he even knew how to make his mouth work properly anymore. Ishida continued to smirk.

“Well, I’ll see you around, Kurosaki. Thank you for the presents. I appreciate your generosity.”

And with that, he left. Ichigo could only blink in astonishment.

“What...what was all *that* about?”

 

TBC.


	2. two

Title: Appropriate Adjective  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Bleach  
Pairing: Ishida/Ichigo  
Rating: PG-13  
Status: Complete (2/5)  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

‘It’s a dream...all this was just some kind of weird, weird dream...any minute now I’m going to wake up and everything will have gone right back to normal...’

Unfortunately for Ichigo, he *wasn’t* dreaming, although he did appear to be in a sort of semi-daze as he passed both of his sisters in the kitchen on the way to his bedroom. Yuzu had called out to him that dinner would start to get cold if he didn’t eat it soon, but he’d just mumbled something incoherent in reply and drifted straight past her, earning himself a rather odd look from Karin as he went.

While Yuzu and Karin seemed to notice that Ichigo had something on his mind, his father seemed oblivious as he launched himself at Ichigo with a well-aimed kick that sent the younger male flying backwards into the wall.

“How’s that, huh?” Isshin crowed triumphantly. “I caught you off-guard, delinquent boy! You should know by now what happens disrespectful children who can’t even be bothered to turn up for dinner on time!”

Ichigo shook his head slightly as if to clear it as he dragged himself up to his feet. “Yeah...sure...” he replied absently, brushing past his father on his way to the stairs and acting like he’d barely even seen him, let alone heard him.

Kurosaki Isshin wasn’t the best person in the world when it came to picking up on and understanding human emotion, but even he seemed to sense that there wasn’t something quite right with this situation. Perhaps the fact that Ichigo had actually refused to indulge him in one of their usual screaming matches clued him in, or maybe it was because Ichigo hadn’t fought back for the first time since...ever, but slowly, the wheels in Isshin’s head began to turn as he tried to figure out just what had happened.

“Was it something I said?”

Karin rolled her eyes in disgust. “What a dork. Couldn’t you see that something was bothering Ichi-nii?”

Yuzu pouted in agreement. “Karin-chan’s right. Onii-chan looked really worried there, but instead of trying to find out what’s wrong with him, you just went and kicked him in the face!”

Isshin looked as though he’d been slapped. “But...but I always kick him in the face! And he always kicks me back! At least until today...”

Again, Karin was scornful. “And wasn’t that enough to clue you in? You saw him. It was like he didn’t even *notice* us.”

Yuzu nodded. “Onii-chan’s being troubled by something. Maybe the teachers at school have been hassling him again?”

Karin snorted in disagreement. “Not with his grades. They’re always looking to get some dirt on Ichi-nii, but instead of letting them bait him, he just keeps his head down and studies, because Ichi-nii actually uses his *brain*, unlike *some* people.”

Those last three words were directed to Isshin, and his lower lip quivered slightly as he appealed to his youngest daughter for forgiveness.

“Yuzu, you’ve always been close to Ichigo. Do you really think that something’s wrong with him?”

Yuzu looked offended. “Of course I do! Onii-chan has been acting strangely for a long time now. He spends more and more time up in his room, his appetite seems to get bigger and bigger, and he’s even grumpier than usual! Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed any of that!”

Isshin looked contemplative. “He’s spending more time up in his room you say?”

“Yup. He doesn’t even like people coming in anymore. Sometimes, he even *locks* his door!”

A miniature light bulb flashed over Isshin’s head and he rubbed his fists together furiously. “Why, that little...” He leaned down and grabbed Yuzu’s shoulders, shaking her slightly. “You’re the one who always cleans his room. Have you seen any...*magazines*?”

Yuzu blinked. “Magazines?”

Karin leapt out of her seat before Isshin could get a chance to explain and sent him reeling with a rather vicious kick. “Don’t talk about stuff like that in front of her, you pervert!”

Yuzu remained clueless. “What’s so wrong about Onii-chan owning magazines?”

Karin shook her head and gave their father another kick, just for good measure. “Forget about it, okay? Ignore this creep. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Isshin managed to drag his way over to the huge poster adorned with his deceased wife’s smiling face and threw himself against it with a sob. “If only you were still here!” he wailed. “You’d never let our daughters treat me this way! You’d never let our hormonal teenage son lock himself up in his bedroom so that he can-”

Once again, Karin’s foot connected with the back of her father’s skull. “I SAID DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT STUFF WHILE YUZU IS HERE!!”

Yuzu could only watch with teary eyes as Karin gave their father the screaming match he’d been denied of earlier from their brother.

“Why are you two fighting? What’s wrong with Onii-chan? What’s all this ‘stuff’ you keep mentioning? I don’t even understand what you’re talking about! Karin-chan, tell me what’s going on! Karin-chan? Karin-chan~!”

~~

Ichigo only vaguely registered the shouting going on downstairs as he slid the door of his bedroom open and stepped inside, but the thing that finally shook him out of his stupor was the sight of Rukia perched on the end of his bed.

“You’re late,” she said shrewdly. “Did something happen?”

Ichigo blinked stupidly for a second or two before shaking his head violently. “No, nothing happened! What makes you think that, anyway?”

Rukia raised one eyebrow. “The fact that you’re apparently in denial? The fact that you’re so spacey all of a sudden?”

Ichigo scowled at her as he threw his book bag down onto the floor. “Nothing happened, all right? Quit nagging me already!”

Rukia looked offended. “I wasn’t *nagging* you, so stop taking your temper out on me! I only asked a simple question!”

Ichigo heaved a deep sigh and sat down at his desk heavily. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry I got mad.”

Rukia frowned in concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No, I’m not okay. That idiot Ishida decided to mess with my head earlier.”

“Mess with your head?”

“You should have heard the jerk!” Ichigo twisted his face into an arrogant smirk and deepened his voice in an imitation of Ishida’s. “‘I like seeing you squirm, Kurosaki Ichigo.’ *That’s* what he said to me. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?!”

Rukia was confused. “I think I’m missing something here, so why don’t you try telling me the whole story?”

Ichigo frowned agitatedly. “There isn’t really much to tell. I hung around after class like you said, in order to give the guy his return present, and he finally sees fit to tell me why he bothered getting me something on Valentine’s Day!”

“So why did he?”

“I told you already. He said that he wanted to see me squirm. To sum it up, the bastard gave me a gift, just because he knew that it’d make me sweat, and while *I* was trying to figure out what the Hell his game was and if I ought to get him something in return, *he* was laughing at me the *whole* time!”

“That sounds rather...sadistic...”

“Gee, you think? Next time I see that guy I’m going to pound him in the ground. No one makes an ass out of me without paying a pretty hefty price!”

Rukia seemed disappointed. “So that’s it?”

“What is?”

“Is that all he said? Was that his only reason for getting you a present? No hidden romantic feelings? No unrequited love?”

Normally Ichigo would have yelled at her for even suggesting something so ridiculous, but this time, he happened to be withholding certain...information from her...information he felt sure that she was better off *not* knowing.

Unfortunately for Ichigo, however, his secret was about to be leaked as the zipper on his book bag slid open, allowing Kon to wriggle free from his confinement.

“He’s not telling you the whole story here, Nee-san!” he announced in a singsong voice.

Ichigo scooped the little plush lion up in his fist before he could run over to Rukia and throw himself at her. “Not another word, jack-ass.”

Kon ignored his threatening tone completely. “Don’t be so embarrassed about it! I’m sure Nee-san is just *dying* to hear the story of little Ichi-poo’s first kiss!”

That was all it took for Ichigo to throw Kon back onto the floor and start stamping on him savagely. “I *told* you not to *say* anything!”

Kon squeaked and wheezed and desperately tried to squirm away. “I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to do it... the words just slipped out of my mouth... it was out of my control, I tell you!”

Ichigo only ground his heel down harder.

“Stop, stop, my stuffing’s coming out!” Kon cast a pleading glance in Rukia’s direction. “Nee-san, help me! I don’t want to die!”

“Don’t be stupid!” Ichigo snarled. “You’re a mod soul! How can you die?!”

“I guess he has a point.”

Ichigo stared in disbelief as Rukia finally came to Kon’s rescue, lifting him up and carrying him back over to the bed.

“Nee-san... Nee-san, I knew you’d save me,” he sniffled, burying his fuzzy face between her breasts. “Now, if I could just stay here and recover for a while...”

Rukia grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hurled him over at the cupboard where she usually slept, striding across the room and snatching him up again before he could escape. Ichigo watched wordlessly as she jammed Kon’s head inside the cupboard and began slamming the door repeatedly on him.

He listened to the pleading and the squealing for a moment or two, until finally, Rukia was satisfied. She let Kon fall to the floor and stalked away with a disgusted expression, ignoring the sound of his pathetic sobs.

As was usually the case when Rukia turned on him, Kon shuffled over to Ichigo for sympathy and attention. He’d never actually received either one of them to date, but he never saw the harm in trying.

“Ichigo, Nee-san tried to decapitate me!”

“Yeah, I saw,” Ichigo replied blandly as Kon crawled up his leg and onto his lap. He picked up the little plushie and squinted at him curiously. “Wow, you really did a number on him, Rukia. His head is hanging on by a thread.”

Rukia snorted. “He deserved what he got.”

Kon continued to sniffle. “I thought you loved me, Nee-san! I thought you *cared*!”

Rukia shook her fist threateningly. “Why should I care for someone who’s constantly trying to feel up my chest?”

If stuffed animals could leer, this one would have done so in response to her retort. “But you *do* have a very nice chest.”

Rukia looked as though she was about to vault off the bed and finish off the job she’d started earlier, but Ichigo held Kon out of her reach.

“Give it a rest, okay? As much as I usually enjoy watching you beat the crap out of him, I *do* have to keep him around whenever you’re not with me.”

“Ichigo’s right, Nee-san,” Kon said in a simpering voice. “He needs me!”

Rukia smiled darkly. “He may not be able to survive without you, but I’m sure *you* could survive without a *head*.”

Kon whimpered and wriggled underneath Ichigo’s shirt as he cowered with fear. “Why do you always have to be so brutal?”

Rukia raised her eyebrows. “Brutal?”

Kon didn’t answer. He was still too busy shivering. Rukia sighed.

“It’s only his head. Do you really want to bother mending him again?”

Ichigo shrugged. “I’m pretty sure Yuzu has one of Mom’s old sewing kits around somewhere. We can stitch him up with that.”

“I’m not letting you come anywhere near me with something so sharp!” Kon squeaked indignantly. “Besides, you can’t even thread a needle! If I left everything to you, my head would somehow end up being sewn onto my ass!”

Ichigo started to snicker, and even Rukia looked mischievous. That was when Kon really began getting worried.

“Look, look, it doesn’t have to be like this,” he said pleadingly. “Ichigo’s dweeb of a boyfriend can fix me instead!”

Ichigo choked. “*What* did you say?!”

Now it was Kon’s turn to snicker. “Oh, you don’t like it when I call him a dweeb? How about nerd, then? Geek? Dork?”

Before Ichigo could start pounding Kon into the floor, Rukia spoke up. “What’s all this about a kiss, anyway?”

Ichigo froze in horror and embarrassment. He’d completely forgotten about Kon letting his little secret slip, and he fought the urge to start flapping his arms frantically as he went into denial.

“Kiss? What kiss? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Rukia eyed him sceptically. “Ichigo, you’re a terrible liar, but if there’s something that you need to keep from me, then fine.”

Ichigo stared at her in surprise. “You mean you’re not going to pry?”

Rukia shook her head. “No...but then again, I don’t really need to, because I can always find out for myself, via the school rumour mill.”

~~

The next day at lunch, Ichigo slipped away before the others could drag him over to their usual dining spot and went off in search of Ishida. It hadn’t been too hard to find him, either. Ishida had always been a loner, and he disliked the noisiness of his fellow classmates, so if there was one place worth being during break, it was up on the roof of the school building.

That suited Ichigo just fine. He needed privacy for what he was about to ask in any case, and sure enough, that familiar dark hair and slender frame was the first thing he saw as he finally finished his climb up the stairs.

Ishida was sitting calmly by the fencing, staring out over the city as he ate his meal. Ichigo had barely made a noise, but he knew that Ishida was aware of his presence. Even if he’d been completely silent, he wouldn’t have been able to mask his spiritual energy, and that was what had drawn Ishida to him in the first place.

That was why he didn’t bother to announce himself as he walked over to Ishida, hovering over him awkwardly as he waited for the other boy to look up. Ishida took his time, but finally, he tilted his head back and met Ichigo’s gaze.

“I have a favour to ask of you,” Ichigo said gruffly, trying not to feel uncomfortable as Ishida’s keen blue eyes bored into his own. He still didn’t really like the idea of being anywhere near Ishida, not after what he’d done and said to him on White Day, but really, he had no other choice.

As usual, Ishida stared at him coolly. “And what favour might that be?”

Ichigo glanced around warily, just to make sure that they really were alone before sitting himself down opposite Ishida and opening up his book bag. He lifted Kon out and held him up, but before he could explain himself, Kon started squawking indignantly.

“How many times do I have to *tell* you?” he screeched, waving an angry paw at Ichigo. “Can’t you find a more *humane* method of transportation for me? I *hate* being stuffed inside that stupid bag of yours like this! It makes me feel claustrophobic!”

“Stop whining,” Ichigo told him sternly. “I did as you asked. I brought you here to be fixed, so where’s your gratitude?”

Kon snorted. “Gratitude? I’ll show you *gratitude*, asshole!”

Ichigo smirked. “Well, forgive *me* for being unafraid of a decapitated talking toy.”

“*Nearly* decapitated! My head’s still hanging in there!”

“And that brings us back to my original point.”

Ichigo turned his attention to Ishida, and for once, the other boy was looking confused rather than aloof. Not that Ichigo could really blame him. Animated plushies were rare enough to come by as it was, but when it came to sheer ego, Kon had them all beat.

“Um... this is Kon... but you’re better off *not* listening to any of the crap that comes out of his mouth. If you ever get tired of listening to him, all you have to do is stamp on him for a while. That usually tends to shut him up.”

Kon blew a raspberry. “I love you, too, butthead.”

Ichigo just rolled his eyes and glanced back over at Ishida. “Well? Can you mend him?”

Ishida blinked. “I’ll see what I can do.” He picked the plushie up, eyeing him warily, but Kon stayed relatively still as Ishida examined him. “It shouldn’t be too much trouble to get him stitched up again. How did he get so torn in the first place, anyway?”

Ichigo gave a forced sort of smile. “It’s a long story.”

Ishida stared at him for a moment but decided not to question things any further as he reached into his bag and took out his sewing kit.

“I don’t have any thread that matches the colour of the felt, unfortunately.”

Ichigo shrugged. “So? It isn’t *that* important. It’s only Kon.”

Ishida narrowed his eyes. “I am a professional, Kurosaki. If there’s a job worth doing, then it’s worth doing well.”

Ichigo held up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. Just use whatever colour comes closest, then.”

After another moment of study, Ishida finally got started on his work. Or at least he tried to. The second he’d finished threading his needle, Kon began to squirm. He’d been unusually placid up until this point, but now he was waving his little fuzzy paws in panic.

“This is a major operation, kiddo!” he said. “Don’t you think I ought to be anaesthetised before you start attacking me with that nasty metal stick?”

Ishida looked over at Ichigo uncertainly.

“Ignore him,” Ichigo said dismissively. “He doesn’t feel any pain.”

“But it’s the *principle*!” Kon squeaked angrily. “You wouldn’t treat a *human* patient this way, so why should *I* be any different, just because I’m a mod soul? I demand morphine! Give me morphine, God damn it!”

Ichigo looked thoughtful for a second. Then he reached out and took Kon away from Ishida, grabbing him by the tail and swinging him around in the air like a lasso.

“What are you *doing*, you jerk?!”

“Shut up. I’m anaesthetising you.”

After another few seconds of spinning, Ichigo began smacking Kon repeatedly against the floor. Ishida watched with a rather disturbed expression, but Ichigo ignored him as he continued to give Kon a good thrashing.

Eventually he was satisfied, and he handed the plushie back over to Ishida. Kon was whimpering pitifully, and Ichigo was pleased to see that he was unable to get out anything resembling a coherent sentence.

“Okay, so it didn’t knock him out cold, but at least he’s stunned. That’s the next best thing, isn’t it?”

Ishida gave him a strange look but said nothing as he finally got round to starting his work. Although Kon didn’t whine or bitch, he did give out little yelps whenever the needle pierced his fur, which seemed to put Ishida off somewhat.

Still, his stitching was neat and tidy, and when he handed Kon over to Ichigo again, the fact that the little plush toy had nearly been beheaded the night before was barely even noticeable. Kon seemed to be sulking, though, and he turned his back on Ichigo in a huff.

“Oi, oi, show some gratitude, will you?” Ichigo told him. Kon merely snorted.

“I’ll run away again!” he threatened. “If you keep mistreating me like this, I’ll go off and leave you!”

“And then what?” asked Ichigo with a smirk. “You’ll come crying back to me in another pink frilly dress?”

Kon ignored him and tried appealing to Ishida instead.

“Tell Ichigo that he ought to start being nicer!” he demanded. “Tell him that *he* ought to start showing gratitude to *me*!”

Ishida shrugged his shoulders disinterestedly as he put his sewing kit away again. “This is none of my concern. It has absolutely nothing to do with me.”

Kon blew another raspberry. “Fine, be that way! You and Ichigo make a *great* pair! You can sit up here and be apathetic together for all eternity!”

And with that off his chest, he scurried over to Ichigo’s book bag and hopped inside, closing the zipper after him. Ichigo looked mildly surprised.

“I think you hurt his feelings...”

Again, Ishida shrugged. “Seems like he’s pretty used to it.”

That made Ichigo feel vaguely guilty all of a sudden, but he tried to hide it. “Uh, yeah...but anyway, thanks for fixing him.”

“It was nothing. It’s not that big a deal. However...”

Ishida trailed off and Ichigo waited for him to finish his sentence.

“...It *does* mean that you owe me one, Kurosaki.”

Ichigo nodded. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s true. So...what do you want in return?”

Ishida’s glasses glinted all of a sudden, and Ichigo felt his blood run cold. Ishida was staring at him in a way that wasn’t all dissimilar from how he’d looked when Ichigo had given him his White Day gift, and that was when Ichigo’s flight-or-fight instincts kicked in. He’d never run away from a battle in his life before, but somehow, he didn’t think he’d feel too ashamed for bolting off and finding himself a suitable hiding place. Not when Ishida was looking at him like *that*, anyway...

Ishida seemed to notice his tension as a lazy smirk crossed over his face.

“Now that I think about it, there *is* something you could give to me,” he said mildly.

Ichigo wasn’t sure he wanted to know just what that ‘something’ was, but Ishida saved him the trouble of opening his mouth to ask.

“Don’t worry. You’ll like this, I promise. Now, close your eyes...”

‘The Hell I will!’ Ichigo protested inwardly, but Ishida was already moving closer, and Ichigo had no choice but to squeeze his eyes tightly shut. He’d half-expected that Ishida would try to kiss him again, but it was still something of a shock to feel the other boy’s lips brushing over his own.

Ichigo held still, hoping that Ishida would be satisfied with that and back off. Ishida had no intention of moving away, however. If anything, he seemed to grow bolder as he slid his hands up to grasp Ichigo’s shoulders, keeping him firmly in place and coaxing Ichigo’s lips open just enough to let the tip of his tongue slide inside.

He had no idea how long they sat there like that, but little by little, Ichigo found himself starting to relax. He dimly heard the sound of the bell that announced the end of lunch break, but Ishida was in no hurry to let him leave anytime soon. Ishida also wasn’t in any sort of hurry to cease sucking face, and Ichigo couldn’t muster up the willpower to push Ishida off of him. Besides, his brain seemed to have stopped functioning properly somewhere along the way...

It was something of an annoyance to feel Ishida’s glasses pressing into his skin, however, and Ishida seemed to be of the same opinion as he finally drew back enough to take them off. Ichigo noticed that they’d gotten pretty fogged up and he watched as Ishida wiped them clean on the end of his shirt. That wasn’t the only thing he’d noticed, though, and he continued to stare until Ishida realised what he was doing and raised his gaze to meet Ichigo’s.

“Whoa...” Ichigo breathed. “You look so...” He tried to think of an appropriate adjective as Ishida began to smirk smugly. “You look so...so...*weird* without those things on.”

Whatever Ishida had expected him to say, it couldn’t have been that if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

“Well pardon *me* for being so very alien,” he said, somewhat stiffly. Ichigo took the glasses away from him and held them up to Ishida’s face curiously.

“You.”

He moved the glasses away.

“Not you.”

He held them up again.

“You.”

He moved them away again.

“Not you.”

Now Ishida looked disgruntled as he snatched the glasses from Ichigo and slipped them back onto his face. Ichigo nodded approvingly.

“You.”

Ishida rolled his eyes. “Yes, me. Are you quite finished?”

Ichigo nodded once more before looking panicked when he realised where they still were. “We shouldn’t be hanging around like this. We’re going to be late for class.”

It must have been his imagination, but Ishida looked fairly disappointed for some reason or another. He said nothing, though, as Ishida packed up his things, and together, they made their way to class.

Predictably, Ichigo was seized by the front of his shirt the second he stepped through the doorway as his Literature teacher began to shake him.

“How do you explain your tardiness, Kurosaki?” he asked threateningly. “Were you fighting again?”

Ichigo concentrated on keeping his temper as he managed to slip out of his teacher’s grasp.

“I *wasn’t* fighting,” he said tightly.

“Oh? So what *were* you doing, then?”

Ichigo felt himself growing pale at the thought of anyone finding out the *real* reason why he was so late, but Ishida saved him the trouble of making up an excuse by clearing his throat delicately. The teacher glanced over Ichigo’s shoulder, looking as though he’d only just noticed Ishida’s presence (which, in fact, he had).

“Forgive us, Sensei,” he said calmly. “Kurosaki and I were asked to run an errand by the school librarian.”

Their teacher glared at Ichigo suspiciously. “Is this true?”

Ichigo nodded frantically. “Yeah, yeah, it’s true.”

“Then take your seats already before I start getting any angrier.” Before they could go anywhere, though, their teacher spoke again. “Actually, while you’re here, I might as well tell you about the assignment. Everyone else got to choose their own groups, but since you two were late, you’ll have to pair up with each other. Understood?”

Ichigo twitched. Ishida nodded.

“Good. Now copy the notes you need off the board and get to work!”

Ichigo tried to ignore the curious stares from his classmates (Rukia’s stare seemed to be the most curious of all) as he went to his desk. Being partnered with Ishida for a class project was the last thing he needed right now, and as he glanced over his shoulder to see if Ishida had found his seat yet, he could have sworn he’d noticed those glasses glinting back at him.

“I am *so* screwed...”

 

TBC.


	3. Three

Title: A Modicum of Understanding  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Bleach  
Pairing: Ishida/Ichigo  
Rating: PG-13  
Status: Complete (3/5)  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

"Cheer up, Ichigo! Why the glum face?"

"If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times. This is how I always look."

"There's no reason for you to be so down. If anything, you ought to be cheering over your chance!"

"Chance?"

"To lure the Quincy into your clutches and make him fall head over heels in love with you."

Ichigo could only sputter in disbelief at Rukia's words, while being grateful that he hadn't actually fallen out of his chair in shock. Ever since Rukia had managed to pry the details of his little meeting with Ishida (though she preferred to call it a tryst), she'd taken the whole thing very seriously, unlike Ichigo himself, who was still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened lately.

For some reason, Rukia had decided to become his own personal cheerleader, offering him encouragement and advice, as well as random boy's love comics. Ichigo still twitched whenever he thought about the day he'd come home to find Rukia up in his room and poring through a stack of gay literature novels. Rukia had insisted that he read them too, so that he could prepare himself for 'what lay ahead'.

It had taken Ichigo a lot of restraint to keep from throwing both her and the books straight out the window...

He didn't even know why Rukia was making such a big deal out of the whole thing. He and Ishida had kissed, but so what? There were thousands, probably even *millions* of people worldwide who did exactly the same thing every single day. The *last* thing he needed was for Rukia to start shoving magazine articles under his nose with dubious titles like 'Ten Tantalising Tips That Will Get Your Toy Boy Tingling.'

She would lecture him as well from time to time whenever she felt that he wasn't being enthusiastic enough, and when Ichigo had tried telling her that he just wasn't interested in any of her 'help', she'd somehow gotten it into her head that he was busy playing hard to get. It didn't matter how many times Ichigo told her that he wasn't acting coy (the mere thought of it made him want to rip out his own liver), she never seemed to listen.

Most disturbingly, Ichigo had seen her alone with Ishida at school during the daytime once or twice while they held very hushed and secretive-looking discussions, discussions that would always change to something banal like the weather or homework whenever Ichigo showed up.

To say that he'd been on edge lately would be an understatement. It seemed that everywhere he went lately, Ishida would never be too far behind. Ichigo had grown so used to seeing the familiar glint of Ishida's glasses that he'd actually begun to *dream* about them.

Having Rukia randomly shouting out, "FIGHT!!" or, "GO FOR IT, ICHIGO!" didn't really help things either. Even worse was when she'd glance over in his direction during class. She'd always look over at Ishida about three seconds later before burying her face into her textbook as her cheeks tinged pink and her shoulders shook with silent giggles. It always pissed Ichigo off to see her doing something like that, but instead of yelling and demanding to know what her problem was the way that he usually would, he tried his best to ignore it. Rukia's mind could be a scary place at the best of times, but Ichigo doubted that even the most fearless Shinigami would be willing to venture inside it while Rukia was in cheerleader mode.

The most disturbing thing of all, though, had been Rukia's drawings. Hollows had always been her favourite subjects, but lately, she'd taken it onto herself to start drawing more... mature pictures. Apparently, they'd been visual instructions of how two males were supposed to have sex with each other, but with Rukia's artistic skills being what they were, it was more a case of looking at two happy little blobs rolling around together, surrounded by hearts and sparkles.

Ichigo just didn't know how much more of this he'd be able to take. He would have liked to bury his head in the sand and pretend that it wasn't actually happening, but Rukia was making it very difficult for Ichigo to hide *anywhere*. Plus there was Ishida himself to think about, and although he'd continued keeping a certain amount of distance between them so far, there was definite interest on his part.

It had been easy for him to focus on the more negative aspects, such as Rukia's nagging and Ishida's... spookiness... but every now and again, Ichigo would find himself remembering the more positive things as well, such as how it had felt to have Ishida... kissing him...

It had been an enjoyable experience, however. Even Ichigo couldn't have denied *that*.

Still, he'd been reluctant to spend anymore time alone with Ishida lately, and although he'd done a fairly good job of avoiding the other boy until now, he couldn't continue to stay out of his way forever.

Ichigo still cursed the fact that he and Ishida had been paired up for their class project. He would have been willing to work with anybody, as long as it wasn't *him*. Unfortunately, Rukia had been asked to form a group of three by Tatsuki and Inoue, something that she seemed rather excited about. She and Ichigo had argued over it... and were still arguing over it, actually, but Ichigo wasn't about to give up anytime soon.

"You can't just stay over at Inoue's place and leave me on my own!" Ichigo protested.

"That's just it!" Rukia reminded him. "You *won't* be alone, because you're going to invite Ishida here!"

"The Hell I am," Ichigo growled. Rukia merely sighed.

"Look, how else are you two going to finish your project? You never speak to him while we're at school, you never speak to him anywhere else. He's going to start thinking that you aren't interested in him anymore!"

"I'm *not*."

"Anyway, you need to keep up your good grades, don't you? And Ishida is the top student in our year. Even if you don't do much, he'll be there to take up your slack."

"That's not what I'm worried about!"

"Then what is?"

"The fact that you're taking off to spend the night with Tatsuki and Inoue! What the Hell am I going to do if a Hollow shows up?"

Rukia patted him on the shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that. Your progress over the past few months has been very admirable. I have confidence in your abilities."

Ichigo twitched. "What I *meant* was how am I going to fight Hollows without you there to transform me?"

"Oh, that's easy," said Rukia dismissively. "I'll just let Ishida borrow my glove."

"You can't do that!" Ichigo cried in panic.

"Why? He may not be a Shinigami but he still has powers of his own. If I can force your soul out of your body, I'm sure that he could do it, too."

"What about Kon?"

"Kon is coming with me."

Once again, Ichigo nearly fell right out of his chair. "He's going with *you*?!"

"That's right." Rukia raised one eyebrow. "Why are you having such a problem with this anyway?"

"Probably because there are about a million and one things that could go wrong without you around," Ichigo said with a scowl.

"You worry far too much!" Rukia told him. "Besides, think of this as a test, if you will. I won't be around to watch over you forever. You'll have to learn how to stand on your own two feet at *some* point of your life."

"But... what if...?"

"Don't be so nervous! Besides, there's a chance that you might not meet any Hollows at all. I'll leave my pager with you, just in case, though I doubt you'd need it with Ishida around. That boy's a better Hollow detector than anything I could buy from Urahara’s shop. The two of you have worked together before, so you shouldn't have any difficulty in doing it again."

Rukia wasn't usually one to shirk her duties, and sometimes, she could be ever so slightly obsessive where work was concerned, but now, she seemed determined to let Ichigo handle things alone for once.

"Anyway, do you *know* how long it's been since I had any time off? The last time I got the chance to take things easy for a while was probably before you were *born*. I have to go, if only so that Inoue can teach me how to make that plush bunny."

Ichigo looked vaguely hurt. "I thought you were going to learn how to do that with me?"

"I know, but she seemed really keen, so I couldn't refuse."

"Fine. Do whatever you like. See if I care."

Rukia couldn't help smiling at that response. "Ichigo, you and I have been living in each other's breathing space for almost half a year now. Spending a little time apart won't kill you."

Ichigo snorted indignantly. "I never said it would!"

Again, Rukia smiled. "You really *were* a mommy's boy, weren't you?"

Ichigo's face suddenly turned as red as his hair. "You say that as though it's a *bad* thing..."

"It *isn't* a bad thing. However, it's probably for the best if you don't start getting too dependent." Rukia brightened. "Anyway, it's nothing to worry about. You have Ishida now! And I won't be leaving you completely on your own. I took the time to prepare a detailed list of instructions for you as well, *and* they have illustrations."

"Instructions on how to fight Hollows and what to do if all Hell breaks loose?"

"No, silly! Instructions on how to make love to another man! You're going to like this one. It's my best work yet!"

Ichigo could only sigh in defeat.

~~

The next day found Ichigo on his way home from school with Ishida in tow, giving him a quick run-down of Yuzu’s house rules while fervently wishing that Rukia were still with him. She’d said goodbye to him after their last class, though, waving merrily as she set off with Inoue and Tatsuki to make a start on their project-slash-girly sleepover thing.

As usual, Ishida had been fairly quiet, choosing to listen rather than speak. Ichigo kind of wished that he’d say something, but at least things weren’t quite so awkward right now. Ichigo still had tremendous difficulty in reading Ishida, but he seemed to be in a pretty good mood for some reason. He wasn’t frowning anyway, and he’d actually been rather pleasant so far. Ichigo only hoped that Ishida’s good behaviour would continue once they finally reached his house.

After rattling off the list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts', Ichigo had something else to say.

“Oh, and one last thing. If you do or say anything to upset either one of my baby sisters, I’ll break your neck. Understood? They don’t know anything about this Shinigami stuff, and I’d prefer to keep it that way, so try not to say anything stupid.”

Ishida raised one eyebrow at him. “Are you quite finished now, or should I start writing everything down?”

Ichigo scowled in response. “Just don’t do anything strange, okay?”

The corners of Ishida’s lips tugged upwards into a smirk and Ichigo tried not to twitch. “What exactly do you count as being ‘strange’, Kurosaki?”

Ichigo really *did* twitch this time. “Look, we’re nearly here, so I’ll make this quick. No rude behaviour, no talking about death, Hollows, Shinigami or Quincy... And most importantly, no *molesting*!”

Ishida’s innocent expression didn’t fool Ichigo one little bit, but all he could do was cross his fingers and hope desperately that he’d be able to make it through the night without any major embarrassments.

Once they reached their destination, Ichigo turned to glance cautiously at Ishida over his shoulder one more time before reaching out and opening the door, calling out a greeting, as per usual.

“I’m home.”

Before either of his sisters could welcome him in return, their father got there first, sending Ichigo flying with an overenthusiastic kick.

“Where on earth have you been?!” he roared, cracking his knuckles threateningly as Ichigo pulled himself back to his feet. “Your poor, precious siblings have been worried sick about you!”

“I’ve been at *school*, you dumb ass!” Ichigo snarled, grabbing onto Isshin’s shirt collar and shaking him roughly. “And I’m not even late, so what the Hell is your problem?”

“My problem?” Isshin boomed, grabbing Ichigo and forcing him into a headlock. “You dare to ask *me* if *I* have a *problem*?”

Ichigo wrenched himself free and dealt his father with a rather satisfying punch in the face. “Get off of me, you freak! And stop kicking me already! I haven’t done anything wrong, so why are you so angry?”

“Whoever said I was angry? I’m actually in a very *good* mood today! It’s your fault for being too dense to notice!”

“I come home after a hard day at school and you beat the crap out of me, just because you’re feeling *happy*?! Give me a break!”

Isshin opened his mouth to respond, but then caught sight of Ishida. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’d brought a guest here, delinquent boy?”

Ichigo gave him a very nasty look. “I *would* have done, only you decided to announce your ‘good mood’ to me first.”

Isshin strode over to where Ishida was standing and Ichigo watched as Ishida flinched back a little, as though he were expecting Isshin to start kicking him around, too. Isshin did nothing of the sort, however. Instead, he held out his hand, and Ishida shook it warily.

“Welcome to our humble home!” said Isshin. “You look like a nice, respectable boy. Please continue providing my son with your friendship. He needs a little sense knocking through that skull of his.”

Ishida bowed slightly in response. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kurosaki-san.” He turned to the table where the other two members of Ichigo’s family were sitting, giving them a nod of his head. “And you, Karin-chan… Yuzu-chan.”

Yuzu was beaming widely. “Onii-chan, your new friend is so polite!”

“Unlike those other brainless oafs he tends to hang around with,” Karin said in agreement.

Ichigo cleared his throat. “This is Ishida. Ishida Uryu. We’re in the same class at school, and he’s here so that we can work on a project together.”

“Pleased to meet you, Ishida-san!” Yuzu said with a wave.

Karin merely grunted and went back to sipping her soda.

“Onii-chan, take your friend upstairs and get him settled, will you? Dinner ought to be ready in about half an hour, so don’t forget to brush your teeth before you come back down!”

“I know, I know,” said Ichigo, motioning for Ishida to follow him as he made his way over to the staircase, leading the other boy up it and into his bedroom.

“Um... just throw your bag in the corner somewhere while I go find something for you to sleep on. I can’t give you Rukia’s stuff, otherwise she’d go nuts.”

Ishida raised an eyebrow. “Her ‘stuff’?”

“Yeah, she sleeps in my cupboard,” Ichigo said dismissively. “All the spare sheets are in there, but she’s arranged them to make herself a comfy little makeshift bed instead. She keeps most of her other things inside, too. It’s almost like a freaking nest, I swear...”

Ishida was frowning again. “She sleeps in here, with you?”

“She doesn’t sleep with *me*. Anyway, I told you. She stays in the cupboard.”

“But you do sleep in the same room, right?”

“Yeah, she’s been around for months now. I’m starting to wonder if she’ll ever actually leave...”

Ishida still seemed slightly unsettled for some reason. “And do your family know about this little... arrangement?”

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder with a rueful smirk. “No, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell them, either.”

Ishida’s frown deepened. “You *do* keep a lot of secrets from them, don’t you?”

Now it was Ichigo’s turn to frown. “Look, it’s not as though I have a choice, okay? I’m only a substitute Shinigami, so I need Rukia to be close by. Besides, it wasn’t even my suggestion. She just moved in without telling me first. She even steals Yuzu’s clothing whenever she needs something to wear. I have to share my allowance with her, I have to sneak food up here so that she can eat... Living with a woman is a pain in the ass.”

Ishida continued to look suspicious. “You need her close?” he repeated.

Ichigo shrugged. “Just in case there happens to be trouble. You’ve probably noticed already that I’m a Hollow magnet. If it weren’t for Rukia, I would have died a long time ago.”

Ishida crossed his arms over his chest. “People talk at school, you know,” he said casually. “About you and Kuchiki.”

“Oh really? Well, let ‘em talk. If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll gossip themselves to death.”

“So the rumours really don’t bother you?”

“Why should they? If I cared about what other people thought, I’d go and dye my hair or something. I’m not completely oblivious. I know what people say. They go around telling each other that Rukia and I are having some sort of love affair, but that’s insane. As if I’d ever want to do anything like that with *her*.”

Ishida noticed that Ichigo had grown ever so slightly uncomfortable, but instead of letting the subject drop, he chose to pursue it even further. “You care about her, though. Surely you aren’t going to deny that.”

“No, I’m not going to deny it,” Ichigo said gruffly. “I *do* care about her. Sometimes, she’ll go and do something crazy, and I’ll be worrying myself sick over her. That’s just how things are.”

“So what exactly *is* the nature of your relationship?”

“It’s nothing like what you’re probably thinking. It’s complicated, all right? I owe a debt to her, a debt that I’m still working off today. We’re friends. That’s all. She saves my neck, I save hers, we fight, we bitch, but somehow, we still get along. It’s not ideal, but it works. If anything, it’s like a mentor and student thing, only Rukia’s a crappy teacher, so that probably isn’t the best way for me to describe it.”

Ishida’s suspicious expression faded away when he heard that last part. “A mentor?”

“Yeah, I guess. Why are you acting so weird about it, anyway? I know Rukia can be annoying sometimes, but you don’t hate her, do you?”

“She’s actually rather likeable... for a Shinigami...”

“Even she has her good points. You just have to search *really* hard for them.” Ichigo straightened himself up again. “Anyway, I’ll go get some bedding, okay? You’re the guest, so you can take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor. The bathroom is down the hall, first door to your right, and don’t forget to brush your teeth while you’re there, otherwise Yuzu won’t let you have anything to eat.”

Ishida seemed vaguely amused. “Yet another house rule?”

Ichigo grinned. “Yup, house rule number 4. We have 1 to 12 pinned up on the wall by the refrigerator in the kitchen so we can’t forget them. Yuzu goes nuts if we try to use *that* excuse.”

“She seems like a good kid.”

“The best. After Mom died, Yuzu started taking care of all the housework. It’s a good thing she’s around, otherwise the rest of us probably would have starved. I love Yuzu. I love Karin. Hell, I even love my old man, even if he does piss me off most of the time, and I’m not afraid to let people know that, either. They’ve been important to me all my damn life, but over time, I started to add more people to that list.”

“Like Kuchiki?”

Ishida had never seen Ichigo look so solemn.

“I want to protect them. Not just that. I want to protect all those who need it the most. I *have* to protect them. Maybe I couldn’t do anything to help my Mom, but I’m sure as Hell going to make up for that by doing whatever I can to keep everyone else safe. I don’t intend to fail or give up either. Not while I still have my strength.”

Ishida had heard him say something similar once before, but he still couldn’t help gazing at Ichigo with a certain amount of awe and respect. “You really are something. You know that, right?”

Ichigo snorted. “Yeah, and I’m going to get my butt kicked by a ten year old girl if I keep hanging around and chatting like this. Hurry up and get changed out of your uniform. Dinner’s almost ready.”

~~

“Karin-chan, have you seen my sewing kit?”

“No, I haven’t seen it. Ask Ichi-nii.”

“Onii-chan, do you know where it is?”

“How the Hell should I know? Ask the old man.”

“Otousan-”

“DON’T WORRY, YUZU! DADDY WILL GO OUT AND BUY YOU A NEW SEWING KIT! THERE’S NO NEED FOR YOU TO CRY!”

“She *wasn’t* crying, moron...”

“You didn’t have to kick me so hard! Daddy is hurt!”

“Dammit, stop talking about yourself in the third person! It’s retarded!”

“You dare to call Daddy a retard?!”

“You dare to deny it?”

It was only when Ishida cleared his throat that Karin stopped trying to jam her chopsticks into her father’s ears.

“I have a sewing kit,” he said calmly.

Ichigo twitched. “Do you carry that thing around with you everywhere?”

Ishida raised an eyebrow. “You never know when an emergency situation might arise.”

Yuzu sidled over to him, holding up her favourite stuffed toy. “Cookie tore his arm. I was going to mend it myself, but-”

Ishida snatched the plushie away from her and dashed off upstairs while the other occupants of the room stared after him in shock.

“What got into him?” asked Karin with a frown.

Ishida was back in less than three minutes, and when he returned, Cookie looked good as he new. He handed the toy to Yuzu wordlessly, and Yuzu stared up at him in amazement.

“You fixed him! You really fixed him!”

“It was nothing.”

Yuzu didn’t seem to think so, though, and she hovered by Ishida’s arm, smiling so widely that it looked as though her face was in danger of splitting right open. Ichigo noticed and smirked to himself.

“Looks like Yuzu wants to adopt you into the family, Ishida.”

Isshin clapped his hands together. “As a reward for making my precious baby daughter so happy, I will make you an honorary member of the Kurosaki clan, little boy! Now, come to Daddy’s welcoming bosom!”

Before he could wrap his arms around Ishida in a tremendous bear hug, however, Karin and Ichigo got there first.

“Don’t call him a little boy, you jack ass!”

“And stop acting like a freak! You’re an embarrassment to us all!”

As usual, Isshin turned to his youngest child for comfort. “You’re not angry with me, are you, Yuzu?”

Yuzu was looking unusually stern. “They’re right, Otousan, you need to start acting like a proper grown-up for once! What if you scare Ishida-san away?”

Ishida wasn’t scared, though. If anything, it was the absolute opposite of being frightened.

“You’re laughing,” Ichigo said in awe as he watched Ishida’s shoulders shaking with silent laughter. “You’re actually *laughing*.”

Karin shrugged. “Well, that’s a good sign, I guess. If goat-chin hasn’t frightened him off yet, he might actually be worth keeping around.” She paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. “But if he *were* to become a Kurosaki, he’d have to marry into the family...”

Yuzu squealed in excitement. “Onii-chan, let’s play wedding!”

Ichigo looked horrified at the mere suggestion. “I’m not playing anything, so don’t you even *think* of getting out Mom’s old gown!”

Isshin guffawed heartily, slapping Ichigo on the back so hard that he almost smacked his face against the table. “Don’t be so shy!” he boomed. “You’ve worn it before!”

Ichigo’s face glowed as brightly as the setting sun. “I was *six*, dammit! I was too young to know any better!”

“That’s not what you told me! You said that you wanted to be just like your darling mother!”

“I said that I wanted to *protect* her, you asshole, not dress up like her!”

Yuzu ignored their bickering completely. “Onii-chan, you can be the bride, okay? Ishida-san can be the groom, Otousan can be the priest, while Karin-chan and I can be bridesmaids!” She clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. “Onii-chan will be pretty like a princess!”

“Pretty like a drag queen, you mean,” Karin said with a snicker.

~~

When Ichigo finally managed to escape three quarters of an hour later, he was still fuming as he threw himself down onto his bed.

“You enjoyed that, didn’t you? You really, really enjoyed it.”

Ishida gazed back at him calmly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about, you bastard!” growled Ichigo. “Why the Hell did you agree to play dress-up with Yuzu? And more importantly, why the Hell did you help her force me into that frock?!”

Ishida shrugged. “I thought it would be amusing.”

Ichigo snorted. “You picked a really bad time to suddenly start developing a sense of humour, you know.”

“I’ve never seen you so embarrassed before. It was... interesting...”

“*Interesting*? Is that how you’re going to describe it? Do you get off on my mortification or something? Do you really enjoy watching me suffer that much?”

Again, Ishida shrugged. “I enjoy seeing you squirm, Kurosaki.”

“Yeah, yeah, you told me already,” Ichigo said grumpily.

“Oh, and I enjoyed seeing you wearing your mother’s old wedding gown,” Ishida added as an afterthought.

Ichigo stared in disbelief. “I think you need to get your head checked out or something. I knew you were weird, but I never thought that you had a few brain cells loose somewhere.”

“Kurosaki, I have suffered tremendous hardships. I lost my most important person as a child. I’m also under huge strain as the last surviving Quincy. So what if I’m a little non-conformist?”

Ichigo raised one eyebrow. “Tremendous hardships?”

Ishida nodded solemnly. “Precisely. I may not look it, but I’m a very tactile person. I have been deprived of physical contact with another human being for years now, which is why I find myself craving closeness and intimacy.”

Ichigo blanched. “You’re not serious.”

Ishida’s deadpan expression didn’t change. “Give me a hug or I’ll shoot you in the eye.”

What he got was a pillow in the face.

“I hate it when you do that,” Ichigo told him with a scowl. “Can’t you find someone else to make a fool out of instead?”

He scowled to himself as he rolled over onto his side, eyeing the table by his bed and frowning slightly when he caught sight of the sheaf of papers sitting on top of it. Ishida noticed them, too.

“Is that part of what we were supposed to do for our project?”

Ichigo’s face went white when he remembered the list of ‘instructions’ that Rukia had given to him the day before.

“Um... no, they’re just... things that Rukia drew.”

Ishida blinked. “She draws?”

“She tries. That’s a more accurate way of putting it. Anyway, they’re really not all that interesting. You don’t have to look at them.”

Ishida reached the papers before Ichigo could, though, picking them up and leafing through them, glancing over at Ichigo with an arched eyebrow.

“Some mentor,” he said with a smirk.

Ichigo tried to hide his embarrassment. “Well, like I said, she sucks.”

“On the contrary, she actually seems to be very knowledgeable. Have you read any of this?”

“No, and I don’t intend to either. Just throw it in the bin before Yuzu finds it.”

Most disturbingly, Ishida chose to fold it up and slip it into his back pocket.

“You’re not *really* thinking of keeping that, are you?” asked Ichigo, feeling more than a little disturbed by the idea.

“Why not?” said Ishida mildly. “It’ll be a good reference guide.”

Ichigo suddenly realised that lying stretched out on his bed like this in front of Ishida might not be the best idea, especially now that Ishida’s glasses had taken on that familiar glint, and he hurriedly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“Why do you always have to be like that?”

“Like what?”

“So... so... freaky! And stop glinting your damn glasses already, it gives me the creeps!”

“I can’t help it. It’s merely a reflection of the light.”

“Then take ‘em off!”

“I won’t be able to see you properly if I do.”

Ichigo secretly considered that to be a very good thing indeed.

“Seriously, though, why are you so damn... *forward*?”

Rather than denying it, Ishida just got straight to the point. “Because sometimes, you can be incredibly dense, Kurosaki. If I hadn’t confronted you back then, you never would have noticed me at all.”

Ichigo looked slightly taken aback by the fierceness of Ishida’s expression. “Hey, hey, I apologised already, remember? Besides, you’re the one with the honing skills, not me. I’m just not good with that sort of thing.”

“You never even knew that I existed.”

“Don’t take it personally. I tend to be pretty oblivious about the existence of most people.”

“I noticed you, though, from the second you stepped into that classroom, and I’ve been watching you ever since.”

Ichigo could only stare. He wasn’t entirely sure what he ought to say in response, but Ishida wasn’t finished.

“I find you very attractive, Kurosaki Ichigo,” he said frankly. His gaze was fixed firmly onto Ichigo’s, making it impossible for the other boy to look away from him. “Not just physically. There’s something about you that I can’t quite put my finger on. You’re different. You’re unique. There was something about you that day that made me sit up and pay attention to you... mainly because of that ridiculously strong spiritual energy that you leak out all over the place, but also because it was the first time I’d met anybody who was... well... like *me*. You have no idea how it made me *feel* just to be inside your presence... how it still makes me feel, even now.”

Ichigo continued to gawk. “Is this a confession?” he asked stupidly.

“It’s the truth,” Ishida said coolly. “I just thought you ought to know.”

Then he fell silent, waiting for Ichigo to digest everything, and eventually, Ichigo felt ready to speak.

“You gave me a gift on Valentine’s Day,” he said slowly. “Why did you do that? It couldn’t just have been because you wanted to find a new way of freaking me out.”

“You were thinking about me, weren’t you?” said Ishida with a shrug of his shoulder. “All that time... trying to figure out what I was doing... if I was playing some sort of game with you... In a way, I suppose I wanted you to make up for your previous inattentiveness by doing something that you wouldn’t be able to ignore quite so easily.”

“You gave me candy... so that I would think about you?”

“Isn’t that what most people do on Valentine’s Day? I believe they consider it to be... traditional...”

“But why me?”

“Why anyone? I didn’t ask for fate to send you waltzing into my life. It just happened.”

“And you’re not going to let me waltz back out if it again, are you?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Ichigo sighed, half-exasperated, half-amused. “You are one crazy guy. You know that, right?”

Ishida’s mouth curved upwards slightly in the most genuine smile that Ichigo had ever seen him wear. “I’m not the one who talks to dead people.”

“No, you blast them away with your arrows before they can open their mouths. Even I don’t go around blowing things up like that.”

“So I noticed. You just hack them to pieces instead.”

Ichigo actually found himself laughing at that. “We make a pretty peculiar pair, you and I.”

Ishida smirked in response. “Birds of a feather flock together. Isn’t that what they say?”

“I guess it’s not that bad. After all, it could always be worse”

 

TBC.


	4. Four

Title: One Step Closer  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Bleach  
Pairing: Ishida/Ichigo  
Status: Complete (4/5)  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

"Hey, Yuzu, pack my stuff up in a separate box, will you? I have to go meet someone in about thirty minutes, and I don't want to be late."

"You're not coming with us this year?"

"Nah, I already made a promise to someone else."

"But... but... we always go to see the cherry blossom as a family, Onii-chan! How can we do that if you're not there?"

"Don't worry, you'll still have the old man. With any luck, he might actually be able to make it through the night without getting himself arrested... again..."

Or so Ichigo hoped. He still felt bad about the idea of leaving his little sisters to deal with their father alone this year, but on the other hand, it *did* mean that he'd get to escape the usual Hanami embarrassment.

It had been nearly a fortnight since White Day, and the cherry blossom had only just started coming into bloom. School was out for the holidays, and, aside from homework and Hollow hunting, things had been more or less peaceful for once.

Ichigo had been somewhat surprised when Ishida had called and invited him out to view the cherry blossom that afternoon, but he'd accepted anyway, mainly as an excuse to spend some time apart from his family, and also because he'd been fairly bored.

He'd offered to bring food along anyway, which was why he'd asked Yuzu to prepare him something different. Yuzu had been disappointed to learn that they wouldn't be celebrating Hanami as a family for the first time, but she'd done as Ichigo had asked and set him up a separate picnic meal anyway.

Before she could start asking questions, though, their father burst into the kitchen with a yell and a crash.

"Have you finished making up the food yet, Yuzu?" he asked excitedly.

"It's almost ready, Otousan," Yuzu replied, as she busied herself with the final preparations. "And try not to do anything too silly this year, okay?"

"Silly? What do you mean by that?" Isshin looked genuinely confused, so Karin decided to spell it out for him in black and white.

"What she means is 'try not to get yourself taken down to the police station again,' moron," she said darkly as she fanned herself with her cap.

"I thought we agreed that it was all an accident!" said Isshin, looking hurt. "You know how policemen are. They don't like the idea of anyone making merry during this special time!"

"Can you blame them?" Karin asked scornfully. "Just think of all the drunks they'll end up putting away before the evening is over."

"It's all in the name of culture, Karin! Culture and tradition!"

"Oh, so it's traditional to get wasted and make an ass of yourself every year in front of poor young children?"

"Exactly! Now, listen up, Karin. If you're very good tonight, Tousan will let you have some of his sake!"

Karin blinked. "Sake?"

"That's right! But only if you manage to beat me during the annual Kurosaki Karaoke Knock-Out tournament!"

Ichigo broke in before Karin could respond as he dealt his father a rather vicious blow to the back of the head. "Don't give her alcohol, you idiot," he snapped. "She's ten years too young!"

Isshin merely chuckled. "Son, you're such a square!" he boomed, slapping Ichigo heartily on the back. "If Karin wants some of Tousan's sake, then Tousan's sake is what she'll get! There'll be some for Yuzu, too, of course..."

Ichigo gave his father another clout. "I told you not to give them anything, you jerk! And listen to what Yuzu says, okay? That way you might be able to avoid getting yourself locked up again."

Isshin looked confused. "What do you mean by that? Where are you going, anyway?"

"To see the cherry blossom, stupid. What else would I be doing?"

"You mean... you won't be coming along with *us*?"

Yuzu's disappointment seemed to match her father's. "Onii-chan says that he's meeting a friend from school this year! That's why he got me to make him his own picnic!"

Isshin looked absolutely furious. "Traitor!!" he yelled, poking Ichigo in the chest with his index finger. "You dare abandon your beloved family at a time like this?"

"Stop making such a big deal out of it!" Ichigo said irritably. "It's not the end of the world!"

Isshin smirked and stroked his chin knowingly. "I see. So you're spending Hanami with a *friend*." He clamped his hands down on Ichigo's shoulders and narrowed his eyes. "Don't you move from that spot. I have to go finish the work that your darling baby sister started by giving you something that will make the occasion even more memorable! Wait right here!"

Karin frowned as he dived out the room. "What's up with *him*?"

"Hell if I know," Ichigo said with a shrug. "But anyway, Yuzu, pass me my stuff, and quickly. If I'm lucky, I'll be halfway down the street before he can even finish finding what he's searching for."

Unfortunately for Ichigo, though, Isshin returned as soon as he'd spoken his sentence.

"For you, my son!!" he bellowed, shoving a large bottle of alcohol into Ichigo's arms. "And, because Tousan doesn't want his little boy having any... accidents... I want you to take these, as well!"

Yuzu looked puzzled. "Where did you get those funny-looking balloons from?"

Karin laughed so hard that she almost fell out of her chair. "Those *aren't* balloons, Yuzu," she snickered. "They're-"

"Essential for safe and consensual sex!" Isshin cried triumphantly. "Now, son, you know how to use these, don't you? But just in case, maybe we ought to have some sort of demonstration. Yuzu, go bring me a banana!"

Yuzu didn't do anything of the sort. She was far too busy eyeing Ichigo warily, and with good reason, because he looked to be in danger of exploding with anger and embarrassment. As usual, Isshin seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Ichigo's temper was reaching breaking point, which was why he looked so shocked when Ichigo finally let loose and punched him squarely in the face.

"By dose!" he cried hoarsely as he raised a hand to try and stem the bleeding. "You broke by dose!"

"You're lucky I didn't break your *neck*!" Ichigo roared as he grabbed his father by the collar of his shirt and hauled him back to his feet. "How *dare* you show me up in front of Yuzu and Karin like that?! Dammit, I'll *kill* you!"

Yuzu managed to break them apart before Ichigo could make good on his threat. "Onii-chan, calm down!" she pleaded. "Otousan didn't mean to upset you!"

Karin snickered once again. "For once, I agree with Yuzu. He was actually trying to *help* you, Ichi-nii."

"Well, I don't need his stupid help!" Ichigo said stiffly as he grabbed the box that Yuzu had set out for him earlier and pointed an accusing finger at his father. "I'm leaving, so you'd better stay out of my way, otherwise I'll throw you under a freaking car, you jack ass!"

And with that, he stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him. Yuzu could only stare in shock.

"What on earth must have gotten into Onii-chan to make him want to act like that?"

Karin snorted in amusement. "Don't worry, Yuzu. I think they call it growing pains or something."

Yuzu's expression turned sympathetic. "Must be tough, being a teenager..."

~~

Fifteen minutes later and Ichigo was still fuming as he reached the place where he'd agreed to meet Ishida. Ishida was already waiting, and he glanced up from his book with a raised eyebrow when he saw the look on Ichigo's face.

"I'd tell you that you're late, but I'm afraid that I might find myself sliced in half if I do," he said dryly. "What happened to make you so angry?"

"Just my old man being his usual idiot self," Ichigo grumbled in response.

"Dare I ask what happened?"

"Oh, nothing much. He pissed me off, so I broke his nose."

"Aa." Ishida seemed mildly disturbed. "So... should we find a place to sit?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to answer, but found himself being interrupted by the sound of an overly cheerful voice.

"Kurosaki-kuuun!"

Ichigo didn't even have to turn around to know who must have been calling him, and sure enough, his guess proved to be correct as Rukia appeared by his side about three seconds later, accompanied by a rather flustered Orihime.

"Fancy meeting you in a place like this!" Rukia cooed in a voice that made Ichigo want to strangle her. "May I ask *why* you're here?"

"Same reason as everybody else," Ichigo replied flatly as he pointed up to the cherry blossom trees.

"You like watching them, too, Kurosaki-kun?" asked Orihime shyly. "They're pretty, aren't they? The blossoms, I mean."

"They're okay, I guess," Ichigo said with a shrug. Then he blinked. "Where's Tatsuki? I thought you two always hung out together?"

"Oh, she's staying with her grandparents for the weekend, which is why Kuchiki-san offered to come with me instead. We even made ourselves a picnic!"

"And look at that!" Rukia twittered. "Kurosaki-kun brought along a picnic as well! Maybe we should all find a spot so that we can eat together!"

Orihime looked slightly abashed. "That's not very polite, Kuchiki-san. It isn't nice to intrude upon someone like that..."

"Oh, we're not intruding. Besides, the more the merrier, wouldn't you say?"

Ichigo twitched. If it had just been Rukia on her own, he would have happily told her to take a hike, but he would have felt bad for sending Orihime away too, which was why he turned to Ishida.

"What do you think?"

Ishida was frowning, but he nodded anyway. "It wouldn't hurt, I suppose."

Rukia beamed. "You're so kind, Ishida-kun! Now, let's find ourselves a place to sit!"

She grabbed Ichigo's sleeve and tugged him forward, hissing into his ear when they were a few steps ahead of Ishida and Orihime.

"Play along, Ichigo. I thought of a plan!"

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder at a suspicious-looking Ishida before turning his attention back to Rukia. "You aren't going to do anything stupid or embarrassing, are you?"

"Hardly!" Rukia simpered, as she slipped back into her school persona. "I wouldn't ever make my dear friend Kurosaki-kun feel foolish!"

Ichigo snorted in disbelief. "So what exactly *are* you up to, anyway?"

"I can't tell you right now, but hopefully, it'll be a one hundred percent success! You'll thank me for it later on, I'm sure."

"Uh-huh."

Even though the afternoon was still fairly young, it was difficult for them to find a decent spot. Eventually, they got themselves settled, and began unpacking their things. Ichigo kept an eye out for any random family members, but so far, it looked as though he wouldn’t have anything much to worry about.

That soon changed, however, as he watched Orihime unloading her basket.

“You’re not planning to *eat* any of that, are you?” he asked dubiously.

“Every Hanami deserves a picnic like this!” Orihime replied with a cheerful smile. “Onii-chan and I used to pack the same things every year, and after we’d finished eating, Onii-chan would comb my hair for me, while I’d read aloud one of his favourite books, so that we could both enjoy it together.”

Ichigo’s usually stern expression softened a little at the mention of Orihime’s older brother. “I guess you must miss him more during times like these, huh?”

“Oh, not really,” Orihime said. “Well, that’s not true. I do miss him, but I know that he wouldn’t want me to spend the day feeling sad. Besides, Kuchiki-san is right! It’s always fun when you’re with friends!”

Rukia fairly beamed. “Exactly, Inoue-san! And this year’s Hanami will be one of the best yet!”

Ichigo eyed her suspiciously as he tried to figure out what she might be hiding up her sleeve, but Rukia refused to give him a clue. Instead, she just giggled over something inane with Orihime, and once again, Ichigo found himself feeling somewhat disturbed over how *easily* Rukia seemed to slip into her little act.

He turned his attention onto Ishida with a sigh, watching as the other boy began working on one of his embroidery patterns. Ichigo wondered how Ishida felt about the extra company. He didn’t seem to be annoyed, but then his bland expression could be hiding anything really.

Orihime seemed to perk up even more when she caught sight of what Ishida was doing, and she smiled over at him tentatively. “You and Kurosaki-kun seem to be hanging out a lot together lately. That’s nice. When did you start being friendly with each other?”

The expression on Rukia’s face was one of absolute evil, and Ichigo made zipping motions across his lips behind Orihime, scowling at Rukia furiously in case she decided to speak before Ishida could.

Ishida seemed mildly surprised at being asked such a question, but he answered it anyway. “I suppose we started ‘being friendly’ shortly after Valentine’s Day,” he said slowly. “It was after I gave him his gift.”

Orihime blinked. “You made Kurosaki-kun something, too? And did he give you something in return on White Day?”

Ishida nodded wordlessly.

“Isn’t that funny! He gave me a gift as well! Kurosaki-kun really is kind, isn’t he?”

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been secretly afraid that Rukia had gone blabbing to Orihime about the ‘nature’ of his and Ishida’s relationship, or at least shown Orihime some of her more... interesting doodles, but Orihime seemed blissfully oblivious, which meant that Rukia couldn’t have corrupted her yet.

He found himself being interrupted for the second time that day, though, by yet another piercing female shriek. Thankfully, it wasn’t somebody trying to get *his* attention but Orihime’s, and, about three seconds later, Honsho Chizuru came barrelling out of nowhere.

“There you are, Hime-chan!” she squealed, throwing herself onto her target. “I thought I’d better keep an eye out for you today, and now I’ve finally found you!” She ceased rubbing herself against Orihime for a moment and turned her attention to Rukia. “And how lovely it is to see you here, Kuchiki-san! I’m so lucky to have two beautiful women in my company today!”

Now Rukia was starting to look vaguely freaked-out, but before Ichigo could start snickering at her predicament, Chizuru finally decided to notice him and Ishida.

“Oh, *men*...” she said flatly. “How... *nice*.”

Orihime smiled brightly. “Kuchiki-san and I are having a picnic with Kurosaki-kun and Ishida-kun!” she announced. “Are you here with someone, too, Chizuru-chan?”

“Of course, I came with Michiru and Ryo! Actually, why don’t I bring you two over so that you can say hi?”

“But...” Orihime looked back Ichigo and Ishida in concern, but Ichigo merely waved her off.

“You can go if you want to,” he told her.

“Aa... okay, then, we’ll go to say hello, but then we’ll be right back!” Orihime promised. “Please watch over our picnic while we’re away, Kurosaki-kun, otherwise someone might steal it!”

Ichigo doubted that even the most starving human being would rob Orihime of *her* food, but he nodded anyway, and that was all the encouragement Chizuru needed to grab the arms of the two girls and start dragging them off.

Ichigo smirked to himself as he watched Chizuru’s hand stray dangerously close to Rukia’s backside. Rukia always seemed to enjoy getting amusement out of his expense, so it was very nice indeed to have the tables being turned for once.

Once the three of them disappeared from sight, he sighed and flopped down onto his back, making himself comfortable as he stared up at the sky. It was actually kind of nice like this, now that he thought about it. Ishida was still busy with his embroidery, but he seemed content enough now that they finally had a little peace and quiet.

Ichigo closed his eyes, only half-listening to the snatches of conversation going on around him. The heat of the sun on his skin felt good, and he realised suddenly that this was probably the most relaxed he’d ever been in Ishida’s presence before.

They’d talked a little since Ishida had first decided to make a move on him, and although they’d both come closer to understanding one another lately, they still hadn’t done anything really significant. Of course, it was difficult for the two of them to get any time alone together, but at least Ishida was starting to act like a normal human being, rather than some insane, obsessive stalker.

It took a while for Ichigo to notice, but eventually, he realised that Ishida’s fingers were slipping gently through his hair. Ichigo opened his eyes and looked up to see Ishida staring down at him, looking faintly curious. Ichigo felt embarrassed at the thought of Ishida catching him in such an unguarded state, and he also didn’t much like the idea of Ishida petting his hair like this while they were out in a public place where anyone could see.

That was why he nudged Ishida’s hand away and rolled over onto his side, turning his back on the other boy and missing Ishida’s hurt expression completely.

Ichigo didn’t have too much time to feel awkward, though, because Rukia and Orihime soon returned to their spot. Rukia seemed more than a little disgruntled, but Orihime was laughing cheerfully.

“Are you feeling sleepy, Kurosaki-kun?” she asked as Ichigo sat up in order to make room for them. “It’s a nice day for a nap, isn’t it?”

“Uh... yeah, it is,” Ichigo said, somewhat distractedly.

Orihime wasn’t the only one who seemed to notice his tone, but instead of being nosy and demanding to know what had happened, Rukia merely smiled knowingly.

“Did you miss us, Kurosaki-kun?” she suggested, grinning slyly at him.

That got Ichigo’s attention, and he gawked at her in disbelief. “*Miss* you?!”

“Oh, don’t deny it,” Rukia giggled. “I bet you were so lonely without Inoue-san and I!”

Ichigo was just about to ask her if she’d hit her head on something when Rukia suddenly latched onto his left arm and snuggled against his side.

“Maybe you didn’t miss us, Kurosaki-kun, but *we* missed *you*,” she cooed. “Isn’t that right, Inoue-san?”

Orihime seemed ever so slightly confused by Rukia’s forwardness. “We... did?”

“Of course! Stop being so shy and come join us already!”

Ichigo had already started looking terrified when Rukia decided to glue herself to him, but when Orihime beamed and snuggled up to his other arm, it was all he could do to keep himself from throwing them off and running away screaming at the top of his lungs.

“That’s better, isn’t it?” Rukia said, gazing up at Ichigo in a way that made him feel sick to his stomach. “After all, there’s plenty of Kurosaki-kun to spread around. It’s like having your own personal little harem, isn’t it?”

Ichigo twitched madly. “What the *Hell* do you think you’re *doing*?!” he hissed.

“Play along, play along,” Rukia whispered. “It’s all part of my plan!”

“You call *this* a *plan*?”

“Of course! Just look at Ishida’s face! If that isn’t jealousy, then I don’t know what is!”

Rukia was right. Ishida looked disgusted, but he seemed to be keeping a very tight reign on his temper as he rose to his feet stiffly and began striding away.

“What did you do that for?” asked Ichigo furiously. “He was fine before you showed up and now you’ve pissed him off!”

“No, *you’ve* pissed him off,” Rukia reminded him sweetly. “And now you need to apologise to him.”

“But I didn’t *do* anything!”

“If you don’t hurry up, you’re going to lose sight of him.”

Ichigo could have kicked her. “This is all your fault, you evil, scheming little *witch*!”

The narrowing of Rukia’s eyes was the only warning Ichigo had before she punched him squarely in the gut.

“Oh, would you look at that! My hand must have slipped! I *am* sorry...”

“I’ll bet you are,” Ichigo grunted, waving off Orihime’s concern as he managed to wrench himself free and push himself up into a standing position. “I’m going to find Ishida, but I swear to God, if you *ever* decide to do something stupid like this again. I *will* kill you.”

“I did it all for you!” Rukia told him. “It was all to bring the two of you closer together!”

Ichigo spat a curse at her before turning on his heel and running in the direction that Ishida had left. He’d get her back for that later, but for now, he had to catch up with Ishida.

After a few minutes of running around aimlessly, Ichigo slowed to a halt as he tried to think of where Ishida might have gone. He could be anywhere, and there was no way for Ichigo to track him down...

The answer suddenly hit Ichigo like a blow to the head when he realised that he *did* have a way to seek out Ishida, and that would be to catch, then follow, his spirit thread.

Ichigo closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling out Ishida’s energy with his mind before finally finding it and grabbing onto it. Ishida wasn’t too far ahead of him, and Ichigo continued to grip tightly onto the thread until eventually, it led him to the person that he’d been searching for.

“Oi, Ishida, wait up!”

Ishida did no such thing. Instead, he ignored Ichigo and quickened his pace.

“Listen to me, God dammit!” Ichigo snarled, grabbing onto Ishida’s shoulder and turning him around forcefully. “What the Hell is your problem?”

“*You* are my problem, Kurosaki,” Ishida said, scowling fiercely. “Why are you even following me anyway? Wouldn’t you rather be off having fun with your harem?”

Again, Ichigo made a mental note to kill Rukia the next time he saw her. “Just forget about that, okay? Why did you leave?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if it was, now, would I?”

Ishida threw his hands up in exasperation. “Why do you have to be so mentally-challenged?!”

“Are you calling me stupid?”

“Yes, I’m calling you stupid!”

Ichigo felt a little guilty for kicking Ishida so hard when he said that, but at least it seemed to calm Ishida down a little as he rubbed his head and blinked stupidly.

“What was *that* for?”

“For calling me a retard,” Ichigo told him sternly. “And because you were going crazy. I had to snap you out of it somehow.”

“Well, you didn’t have to *kick* me,” Ishida grumbled, smoothing down his hair. “So why *are* you here?”

Now it was Ichigo’s turn to blink. “Because you ran away.”

“I did *not* run away!”

“Then why did you just take off like that without even saying anything?”

“Because of those idiot *girls*! Obviously you’d prefer to have them draped all over you than me touching your hair.”

“I didn’t want either of those things!” Ichigo snapped. “I mean... I didn’t mind the hair thing too much, I guess, but I’d have liked it more if we hadn’t been out in public like that.”

Ishida stared at him evenly. “Do I embarrass you?”

“No,” said Ichigo. Then he changed his mind. “Well, yeah, sometimes. Like when you wear those really lame Quincy outfits for instance... or when you try to show off and look cool... or when you go all rabid with the sewing stuff...”

“So I *am* embarrassing.”

“I guess... but I’m embarrassing, too, so it’s nothing personal. Rukia’s embarrassing... Hell, even Inoue is embarrassing. We’re all a bunch of weirdoes.”

Ishida crossed his arms over his chest. ”Weirdoes?”

“Yeah, weirdoes. But anyway, that’s not important. Why’d you get so mad back then?”

“Wouldn’t you have been angry if *I* had girls throwing themselves at me?”

“No... I think I’d be kind of scared, though,” Ichigo said truthfully. “What are you talking about anyway? I don’t get girls throwing themselves at me.”

“Then what was that with Kuchiki and Inoue-san?”

“*That* was Rukia and her stupid ‘plan.’ She was making you jealous on purpose.”

Ishida looked sceptical. “And Inoue-san?”

Ichigo shrugged. “Probably didn’t have any idea what was going on, but went along with it anyway, because it looked like fun. You weren’t *really* jealous... were you?”

“So what if I was? Is it that big a deal?”

“Well, yeah... I never really thought of you reacting in such a way.”

Ishida continued to appear defensive. “I’m not allowed to get angry whenever I see someone flirting with you like that?”

Ichigo frowned in confusion. “But why would you *want* to get angry?”

“Because you’re supposed to be *mine*!”

Ishida seemed just as surprised as Ichigo by the words that had just slipped out of his mouth, but he didn’t take them back. Instead, he looked away, frowning even deeper as he did so. Ichigo merely sighed.

“What are we, anyway?”

Ishida laughed hollowly. “I don’t know. What do *you* think?”

“You’re asking *me*?!” Ichigo took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, otherwise they’d just keep going around in circles. “Okay, let me rephrase that question. What do you *want* us to be?”

Ishida seemed taken-aback, and he didn’t answer straight away. “What I want,” he said slowly, “is for you to acknowledge me... accept me... to *see* me.”

“But I do see you,” Ichigo said, puzzled. “You’re standing right here in front of me.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Ishida sighed in frustration. “I just... I remember you saying before... that you had people that you wanted to protect... people who were important to you...”

“Yeah... so what are you getting at?”

“What I’m *trying* to say is... I want to be one of those people.” Ishida was blushing slightly, but he kept on talking. “I want to be important to you... I want to be someone precious...”

Ichigo snorted. “Don’t be an idiot,” he said dismissively. Before Ishida had the chance to take that the wrong way and start getting upset again, Ichigo reached out and grabbed hold of his arm. “You already *are* important to me. Why else would I have gone chasing around town after you if I didn’t actually *care*? And anyway, what’s all this about me being yours? Do I have it written down on my forehead or something?”

Ishida looked determined all of a sudden. “No, but if find a pen, I can change that.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “I was *kidding*.”

“About the marking or about me being important to you?”

“About the pen, you moron. Stop being so paranoid for once.”

“I’m not paranoid! I’m just caring, too, in my own way. Can’t I look out for my important person?”

Now it was Ichigo’s turn to be taken-aback. “*I’m* your important person?”

Ishida looked away again awkwardly. “Unlike you, I don’t have violent family members or scary female friends to worry about, so I only have the one precious person. It’s tough, but you’ll just have to deal with it, so don’t you dare run off or die, otherwise I’ll never forgive you.”

Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re insane. You know that, right?”

Ishida wasn’t amused. “I mean it, Kurosaki. I still have to prove myself and you still have to accept me. And if you try to run away, then I will find you.”

“Okay, *now* you’re starting to sound unbalanced.”

“Shut up or I’ll shoot you.”

Ichigo smirked but did as he was told, at least until he remembered Rukia and Orihime. “Um... shouldn’t we be heading back now that we’ve managed to clear things up?”

Ishida shook his head. “No,” he said quickly. “Don’t go.”

“I meant for us to go together,” Ichigo told him.

“I know... I just don’t want us to go back there.”

“But we never even got to eat the food my sister prepared for us...”

“Then I’ll make you something at my place.”

Ichigo stared. “What about the cherry blossom?”

“I don’t care about that,” said Ishida earnestly. “Just... come with me. Please?”

There was something about Ishida’s expression that made Ichigo decide not to argue with him for once.

“You’d better have something other than cup ramen waiting for me,” he said finally. “’Cause you’re not going to earn my affection with something like *that*.”

“So we’ll order take-out.”

“It’s good enough, I guess. All right, then... lead the way.”

 

TBC...


	5. Five

Title: The Problem With Passion  
Author: Triste  
Fandom: Bleach  
Pairing: Ishida/Ichigo  
Rating: R  
Status: Complete (5/5)  
Disclaimer: Not mine

~~

Ever since Ichigo had gained Shinigami powers, he'd been exposed to some pretty scary things, but the inside of Ishida's apartment frightened him more than any Hollow he'd ever faced before. That was why he continued to hover awkwardly in the hallway and hang back a little as Ishida slipped off his shoes.

"Well?" he asked with a frown when he noticed Ichigo's dithering. "Aren't you coming in?"

Ichigo pointed wordlessly. "You have lacy things," he said. "Why are there so many lacy things here?"

"They're here because they make the furniture look more attractive!" Ishida told him, blushing indignantly.

"But... it looks like the house of a lonely old woman. You're supposed to be a high school boy!"

"Most teenagers have no sense of what does and doesn't look good inside a home," Ishida said, somewhat sniffily. "I happen to *like* having lace throws around."

Ichigo continued to stare in amazement. "Actually, forget the lacy stuff. Why do you have so many *cushions* if you live alone?"

"Because I like knitting covers for them!"

"You *knit*?!"

"Why is that so surprising? Look, you can either stand there and gawk to your heart's content, or you can actually come inside so that we can get something to eat. It's your decision."

Ichigo looked vaguely apologetic for having offended Ishida so much, but he still couldn't help glancing at random objects out the corner of his eye as he kicked off his shoes and made his way further inside the apartment.

He frowned a little as he stepped closer to one of the lampshades and touched it with his finger, making a face when he saw how dusty it was.

"Don't you ever clean in here? And why is it so dark? Are you trying to grow your own mushrooms?"

Ishida was starting to look even more irritated. "I didn't bring you home to criticise and complain, you know."

"Well, you could at least open a couple of windows and let some air in. It's so dank and lifeless in here."

"Fine, fine, open the window! Anything to make you stop nagging me!"

Ichigo resisted the urge to stick out his tongue in response as he did as Ishida said, undoing the catch and sliding the glass back before leaning against the wall with a sigh.

"Oh, what *now*?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"About how weird you are."

"Kurosaki, I'm warning you..."

Ichigo snickered as he turned around to face Ishida again. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Stop being so defensive already!"

Ishida scowled. "I wouldn't have to *be* defensive if you weren't so intent on making fun of me like this."

"I get it, I get it. Like I said, I'm sorry."

"You'd better be. Now, can I trust you sit down and keep still while I search for the phonebook? Or would you prefer to keep wandering around and finding new things to amuse yourself with?"

"Fine, I'll make myself at home already."

Ichigo eyed the couch warily before prodding it with the tip of his index finger, half-expecting to find it covered with dust the way the lampshade had been. He soon discovered that it was clean enough, and so, he sat himself down, being careful not to get too close to any of the cushions as Ishida finally found what he was looking for and came over to sit down next to him.

"Who do you want to order from?" Ishida asked absently as he flipped through the pages. "What do you feel like eating?"

Ichigo pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Are you going to be paying for it?"

"Yes."

"Then I want something expensive."

"Kurosaki..."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Um... Chinese is fine, I guess.”

After Ishida had placed their order, there was nothing left for them to do but wait.

“They said it could be anywhere between twenty and thirty minutes until they arrive,” Ishida said as he placed the phone back in its cradle.

Ichigo sighed and leaned back a little as he stared up at the ceiling pensively. “What are we going to do until then?”

Even though he was looking elsewhere, he still managed to catch the glint of Ishida’s glasses, and he leapt to his feet as he pointed a finger accusingly at the other boy.

“I didn’t mean anything weird by that!” he stammered, “so don’t you start getting any funny ideas!”

Ishida raised an eyebrow in response. “Ideas, Kurosaki?”

Ichigo refused to fall for that deceptively bland expression. “You know what I mean. I can tell that you’re thinking something strange.”

Instead of responding verbally, Ishida chose to push himself into a standing position, and Ichigo found himself stepping backward nervously. Ishida was now looking vaguely amused by his reaction, but instead of worrying Ichigo like it might once have done, it now ended up pissing him off.

“What’s with the scowl?” Ishida asked, frowning a little himself.

“You’re teasing me again and that makes me mad,” Ichigo told him bluntly.

“Actually, I was trying to make you squirm.”

“And that’s not much better. Look, if you want to... *kiss* me, then do it normally, and ask me first! Just quit with the whole spooky stalker stuff already!”

Ishida’s smile widened, and Ichigo got the feeling that he was trying his best not to laugh out loud.

“All right, then.”

Ichigo blinked. Ishida wasn’t usually so agreeable, but now Ichigo could only watch as he bowed formally and then rose again with a smirk.

“May I kiss you, Kurosaki Ichigo?”

Ichigo looked away awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that he was blushing all of a sudden. Now he felt even stupider than before, and he only had himself to blame. He was acting like some uptight woman, but he couldn’t help it. Ishida made him feel so embarrassed sometimes, and it made Ichigo want to kick him. He doubted that Ishida would be pleased if that happened again, though, and most likely, they’d end up having yet another argument...

Ichigo realised then that Ishida was still waiting for his answer, and he scowled as he managed to mutter out his words.

“Sure, I guess.”

It wasn’t really anything out of a romance novel, but right now, it was the best he could bring himself to do.

He was still scowling when Ishida stepped up to him, but Ichigo allowed Ishida to gently turn his face so that their gazes could meet. He noticed that Ishida was staring at him curiously again, the way he had done when he’d petted Ichigo’s hair earlier, and although Ichigo had been half-expecting it anyway, he still started when Ishida’s hand reached up to rest against the top of his head.

Ishida leaned in slowly and Ichigo shut his eyes, fighting the urge to hold his breath in anticipation as he sensed Ishida moving closer to him. He began to relax again when their lips finally met, and although he still felt vaguely awkward about kissing and intimacy in general, he couldn’t pretend that he didn’t like it.

On the contrary, it felt almost *too* good as Ishida gradually deepened the kiss, causing Ichigo to relax even further. If this kept up, both his brain and his body would be nothing more than shapeless piles of mush, but somehow, Ichigo couldn’t bring himself to mind too much about it anymore.

Ishida’s expression was unreadable when they broke apart for air, and now Ichigo was the one who looked slightly curious as he wondered what Ishida would decide to do next. He supposed it ought to bother him the way Ishida seemed to initiate everything, but it was easier just to follow his lead and react.

Ichigo’s hands seemed to move on their own free will as they slid Ishida’s glasses away from his face, making Ishida blink in surprise for a second or two before his lips curved upwards into something that almost resembled a genuine smile.

It was Ichigo’s turn to look surprised then. He couldn’t ever remember seeing Ishida look so nice. He was used to seeing Ishida scowling and frowning, as well as those other weird facial expressions that he seemed so fond of making, but he’d never once seen him looking so... well... *normal*.

It was then that Ichigo realised that Ishida was actually *attractive*, and it confused him a little as to why he’d never noticed it before. Then again, he’d never really looked at anybody in a romantic sense until now, so he couldn’t really blame himself for being clueless.

Ishida had been watching him right from the start, though, even though Ichigo had never known of Ishida’s existence. That night when Ichigo had invited Ishida to stay over at the clinic, Ishida had admitted being attracted to him, and Ichigo found himself wondering just how long Ishida had seen him in that particular light.

It felt strange to know that there was someone out there who thought of him in such a way... who even found him to be... desirable.

Ichigo felt his face growing hot, and he looked away again uncomfortably when he caught sight of Ishida’s smirk.

“You’re blushing,” Ishida said in amusement.

“No I’m not,” Ichigo protested gruffly. “It’s just hot in here.”

“So you aren’t embarrassed, then?”

“Hell no!”

Ishida’s smirk continued to linger as he slid his hand down to lightly press against Ichigo’s cheek. “What were you thinking about?”

“N-nothing! Nothing at all! Stop being nosy, God dammit!”

“I was just curious. You looked as though you’d had an epiphany. I’m not used to seeing your ‘this is me getting a clue’ face. Maybe you ought to make it more often.”

Ichigo growled. “Why are you always making fun of me like this?”

“Because you’re the only Shinigami that I could never bring myself to kill. Instead, I have to settle for watching you squirm. It’s very entertaining.”

“You really *are* a sadistic bastard, aren’t you?”

“You know you love it, so shut up and put your arms around me.”

The only response Ichigo could bring himself to make was a rather unintelligent-sounding ‘huh?’, which made Ishida sigh heavily in response.

“I am going to kiss you again, Kurosaki Ichigo, and you are going to enjoy it, so wipe that idiotic expression off your face or I’ll do it for you.”

And with that, Ishida closed the distance between them and touched his lips to Ichigo’s. For the second time that afternoon, Ichigo’s hands seemed to move all on their own as he dimly wound his arms around Ishida’s waist. That was all the invitation Ishida needed to move even closer as he pressed his body up against Ichigo’s, practically rubbing against him like some sort of cat.

Ichigo was more than slightly confused when he caught sight of the blissful expression on Ishida’s face after their mouths had parted, but Ishida seemed not to notice his attention.

“What are you doing?” Ichigo asked finally.

Ishida looked faintly ashamed. “Look, I can’t help it, all right? It’s that ridiculously powerful spiritual energy of yours that’s making me act this way!”

Now Ichigo was even more bewildered. “But I’m not even doing anything...”

“Of course you aren’t, idiot, which is why you’ve never even learned how to control it.”

“So why is it affecting *you*?”

“Because it’s using me as an outlet! Just touching you or being near you like this is enough to cause your power to start flowing into me, and if you really must know...” Ishida swallowed slightly as his own cheeks began to grow pink. “It’s actually rather arousing.”

Ichigo could only stare. “But... I don’t feel anything...”

Ishida chose that moment to shift his weight a little, bringing their hips closer together and causing Ichigo’s eyes to widen in shock.

“Okay... *now* I do...”

“I told you already that I can’t help it,” Ishida said earnestly. “How else am I supposed to react with your spiritual energy pulsing all over the place?”

Ichigo frowned at him distastefully. “First I ‘ooze’ and now I ‘pulse’? Can’t you find a better way to describe it?”

“Stop complaining! Just let me kiss you again...”

Ichigo didn’t even have time to protest.

When Ishida’s mouth met his, there was an underlying hint of desperation, which made the kiss a little rougher than the previous ones that they’d shared. Ishida seemed intent on stealing Ichigo’s breath away from him, and they were both panting as they finally separated.

Instead of speaking, though, Ishida bent his head and fastened his mouth onto the side of Ichigo’s throat, kissing his way upwards until he reached the spot underneath Ichigo’s earlobe. It must have tasted nice to him or something, because he began lapping at Ichigo’s skin, and again, Ichigo found himself thinking of Ishida as some sort of weird feline, but before he could laugh over the mental image of Ishida with kitty ears and whiskers, Ishida chose to clamp his teeth down on his neck.

It didn’t really hurt, but Ichigo found himself yowling anyway, more out of shock than pain. Ishida bit him again, and Ichigo was just about to ask him what the Hell his problem was when Ishida began moving his lower body again, grinding their hips together slowly.

Ichigo’s legs almost gave out on him completely, but Ishida held him upright, gasping as he buried his face against Ichigo’s shoulder.

“Nnn, Kurosaki... I’ve always... wanted this...”

Ichigo was too busy gasping for breath to try and get out a coherent sentence, but Ishida didn’t seem to be expecting one as he claimed Ichigo’s lips in a deep and bruising kiss. Ichigo dimly registered the fact that Ishida was pressing him back against the wall, and although he knew that they should probably slow down, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything to stop it.

Besides, he couldn’t have spoken now, even if he’d tried, not with Ishida seeing just how far he could stick his tongue down Ichigo’s throat. Ichigo could hear the muffled sounds of his own moans, as well as Ishida’s little noises, and he seemed to be feeling more and more light-headed the longer the kiss went on.

Just when he thought he might actually end up passing out due to lack of oxygen, however, the doorbell rang.

Ishida cursed, and it took a moment for Ichigo to figure out what was happening. Eventually he remembered that they’d called for take-out, and he watched stupidly as Ishida tore himself away and stamped over to the entrance of his apartment, making sure to hide his lower body out of sight behind the door as he opened it up with a scowl.

The deliveryman seemed somewhat taken-aback by Ishida’s irritation, and Ichigo couldn’t blame him. It was a wonder Ishida hadn’t just drawn his bow and shot him on the spot for daring to interrupt their little make-out session, but he got rid of the guy as quickly as he could before storming back into the sitting room and grabbing hold of Ichigo once more time.

It was then that Ichigo’s stomach began to grumble loudly, and he looked vaguely sheepish in response to Ishida’s expression of utter disbelief.

“Dammit, Kurosaki, how can you be hungry at a time like *this*?!”

“I can’t help it!” Ichigo said defensively. “We never did eat the picnic that my sister made up for us, and it *is* getting pretty late.”

“Then we’ll leave the food and heat it up later!” Ishida seemed exasperated as he tugged Ichigo in the direction of the bedroom.

“But I really am starving...”

“*Kurosaki*!!”

It took a lot of effort for Ichigo not to burst out laughing when he realised that Ishida was actually whining. He certainly seemed to be worked-up anyway as he dragged Ichigo over the threshold and pushed him down onto the bed, crawling over him and sighing happily as he got himself settled.

“Mm, Ichigo...”

Well, that was new. Ishida had never once called him by his given name, so it seemed more than just a little weird to hear him say it for the first time. Ichigo found himself wondering if Ishida wanted him to do the same, which then led to him thinking how strange it would be to call Ishida by *his* given name, rather than his family name.

Ishida didn’t seem to care one way or the other as he shifted around on top of Ichigo before ducking his head and scattering kisses over his neck. It tickled slightly, but Ichigo was still busy trying to figure out the whole name thing, which led to Ishida looking up at him in annoyance.

“Don’t tell me you’re still hungry.”

“Huh? Oh no, I was just thinking...”

“Thinking? *You*?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Ishida didn’t seem to be in the mood to argue for once, though. Instead he snaked a hand down between their bodies and pressed it against the front of Ichigo’s pants, causing Ichigo to arch into his touch and groan loudly.

“That’s better,” Ishida told him with a nod of approval. “Those are the only noises I want to hear from now on.”

Once Ichigo had gotten over the momentary shock of having Ishida touching him so intimately, he struggled to push himself up. “W-wait... Ishida...”

Ishida paused and Ichigo frowned, wishing that Ishida would take his hand away for a second so that he could get his brain working properly again. He couldn’t seem to voice his uncertainties for some reason, and he wondered if Ishida could sense his nervousness.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” he finally blurted out.

Ishida looked offended. “Of course I do. Why are you asking anyway?”

Ichigo was taken-aback. “You’ve done this before? With somebody else?”

“No, I merely studied the books that Kuchiki-san provided me with in great detail. They *were* very informative.”

Ichigo slumped back against the pillows with another groan, but this one wasn’t from pleasure. “You *read* those things?”

“I did.” If Ishida had been wearing his glasses, Ichigo knew for a fact that he’d be glinting them right now. “Besides, I have excellent instincts. What’s wrong? Don’t you trust me?”

Ichigo actually had to think about that. *Did* he trust Ishida? He really wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just first-time nerves, but he couldn’t help wondering if putting himself in the hands of his former stalker was such a good idea after all.

Still, Ishida was the one who at least seemed to have some knowledge of how things ought to proceed, even if he had gained said knowledge from Rukia. Ichigo had seen Ishida do some pretty stupid things before, but he doubted Ishida would ever cause him harm. Sure, he still had his grudge against Shinigami, but he always seemed to have regarded Ichigo as a special case.

Ichigo knew that Ishida wasn’t a *bad* person. He was just spooky and obsessive and sometimes foolish, not to mention slightly embarrassing. That was why Ichigo found himself smiling ruefully as he gave a tiny nod of his head.

“If you do anything to hurt me, I’ll kill you,” he said darkly.

Now Ishida was the one who looked surprised, but he soon smirked back at Ichigo. “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

Ichigo laughed at that, and Ishida leaned up to capture his lips. Ichigo let himself relax, sighing as Ishida kissed him sweetly. When they parted, Ichigo shifted under Ishida again, struggling to get out of his tee shirt. Ishida helped him, and together, they were able to get pull off.

Ichigo reached for Ishida’s hand as he lay back, placing it against his chest and closing his eyes. He could hear Ishida’s soft intake of breath, feel Ishida’s fingers trailing slowly over his skin.

“Does this feel good to you?” Ishida whispered.

Ichigo nodded wordlessly. Ishida’s free hand had moved up to start touching his face, and he carefully traced his fingertips over Ichigo’s eyebrows, his lips, the curve of his jaw.

“I never imagined you being this compliant,” he admitted after a while. “In all of my fantasies, you’d usually be yelling and swearing.”

Ichigo cracked one eye open in amusement. “You fantasise about me?”

Ishida’s cheeks turned faintly pink. “I might act like an elderly woman sometimes, but I still have a very healthy teenage sex drive. I also have a very healthy imagination. You may not have noticed, but I don’t really have much of a life. It did give me a lot of time to think about things, though.”

“Like what my first expression of ecstasy would look like, you pervert?”

“Well, that too.” Ishida seemed uncomfortable. “There were other things as well...”

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. “Dare I even ask?”

“It wasn’t anything kinky, if that’s what you’re suggesting!”

“Okay, so what else did you imagine?”

“I don’t want to tell you. You’ll laugh.”

Ichigo sighed. “Ishida, I’ve seen you at your most ridiculous. There isn’t anything you could say right now that would make me start thinking of you any differently.”

Ishida continued to appear uncertain for a moment before speaking up again hesitantly. “It isn’t really all that interesting. Just little things like the two of us sitting together without bickering for once and holding hands...”

Ichigo began to snicker.

“I knew you’d laugh! Didn’t I say so?”

“But... but... holding *hands*? It’s *girly*, isn’t it?”

Ishida frowned, offended. “How can you say that? I thought it was a nice idea! Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I made sure to tie out spirit threads together instead, so it’s the next best thing.”

Ichigo ceased laughing immediately. “You did what? How come I never noticed?”

“Because you’re dense,” Ishida told him flatly, waving his hand and conjuring up a pair of threads, one red, and one white.

Ichigo could see that they really *were* twined together, and he stared up at Ishida dubiously.

“It’s just an easier way to keep track of you,” Ishida explained with a shrug. “And it’s romantic, don’t you think? Connected by our spirit threads?”

Ichigo shuddered. “Actually, it’s kind of creepy. Couldn’t you have found a more normal way to connect to me, like a telephone?”

“But this is so much better! Whenever I want you to feel my presence, all I have to do is give it a little tug.”

Ishida demonstrated and Ichigo felt a sudden fluttery sensation in his stomach.

“So it was *you*!” he exclaimed. “Three nights ago, I was having dinner with my sisters, and they thought I was going nuts because I kept laughing every time I felt that stupid twinge. I’m ticklish,” he added when he noticed Ishida’s bewilderment.

“I wasn’t sure if it would work or not,” Ishida said apologetically. “That’s why I ended up pulling it more than once, just to check.”

“You yanked it ten or twelve times in the space of twenty minutes,” Ichigo growled.

“Well, now we know that’s it’s functioning normally,” Ishida told him briskly. “So stop complaining. Anyway, there are more important things for us to concentrate on right now.”

“Such as?”

“Getting naked.”

“*What*?! Hey, hey, wait a second! Don’t do that!”

Ishida turned a deaf ear to his protests as his fingers swiftly unbuckled the belt around Ichigo’s waist, loosening his pants and dragging them off before Ichigo could manage to sputter out a coherent sentence.

“Dammit, you’re a freaking psycho! I thought we were going to be taking this slower?”

“We *are* taking it slowly,” Ishida replied blandly as he unbuttoned his own shirt, slipping it off of shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. “I just want you to touch me.”

Ichigo knew that his face must have been bright red as Ishida took one of his hands and guided it to his chest. Ichigo could feel Ishida’s heart beating under his fingertips, but it didn’t seem to be pounding anywhere near as quickly as his own.

He hated admitting it, but he really didn’t have a clue what to do. Unlike Ishida, he had flat-out refused to read Rukia’s step-by-step instructions, but now he found himself wondering if they really would have been any help to him.

Then again, Rukia was a *girl*, and her information had been gained from flowery romance novels and graphic comic books, not real-life experience.

That was when Ichigo found himself thinking. He still didn’t know anything about Rukia’s personal life, and although he’d never been the type of person to pry before, he couldn’t help wondering if Rukia had ever been in this situation.

He’d never once thought about Rukia in a sexual light, and it made his brain hurt to imagine her having sex. He supposed he *could* have always asked Rukia to her face, but Ichigo knew better than anyone how blunt he could be sometimes. It didn’t matter how casually he might have phrased the question. If he asked Rukia if she’d ever slept with anyone before, she’d most likely slap him or knee him in a very delicate area.

Not for the first time, Ichigo felt annoyed by the fact that he knew next to nothing about Rukia while she made a point to constantly stick her nose into *his* business.

Ichigo found himself shaken from his thoughts, however, by Ishida’s rather irritated-sounding voice.

“Are you going to get a move on, or would you prefer to continue spacing out?”

Ichigo blinked and focused his gaze again. Ishida looked as annoyed as he sounded, and that pissed Ichigo off. Ordinarily he might not have been quite so daring, but if it would make Ishida shut up...

It did.

The expression on Ishida’s face when Ichigo quickly slid his hand down from his chest to the front of his pants was very satisfying indeed, but he didn’t leave Ichigo long to feel smug. If anything, it seemed to have snapped the last strand of his patience as he pushed Ichigo’s hand away and struggled to free himself from the rest of his clothing.

Once he’d done that, he reached out for Ichigo again and slipped his fingers under the waistband of his boxer shorts, pulling so hard that they actually ripped. Ichigo would have hit him, but he was far too occupied with the fact that he and Ishida were currently naked and lying on a bed together.

He’d never really been body shy before, but the way Ishida gazed down at him was vaguely unsettling. Ishida was tense, but unlike Ichigo, who felt the urge to cover himself from that piercing gaze, Ishida seemed ready to pounce at any second. He looked strange... rabid, almost, but not quite. He stared at Ichigo the same way a starving man would eye a plateful of food, but Ishida did have *some* control. He wasn’t salivating at least...

It didn’t stop him from raking his gaze over every inch of Ichigo’s body, and although Ichigo had been keen to make Ishida *stop* talking earlier, he’d give anything right now to have him open his mouth and speak.

Slowly Ishida lowered himself over Ichigo again, but this time it was different... much, much different to how it had been before.

The sensation of skin against skin was electrifying, and Ichigo bit his lip to keep himself from moaning. When he looked up at Ishida again, he could see that the other boy had his eyes tightly shut. The last time they’d been pressed up against each other like this, Ishida’s expression had been nothing less than blissful, but now he seemed positively ecstatic.

Already Ishida’s breathing was laboured, and Ichigo noticed with a start that his was, too. He’d also failed to realise that his hands had drifted up to grip Ishida’s shoulders firmly, whether to keep him at a distance or pull him closer, Ichigo didn’t know.

He didn’t have time to decide which one he wanted to do, though, because Ishida’s mouth had already sought out his own in a kiss that slowly began to deepen, making Ichigo feel as though he might melt from the intensity of it.

He gave another start when he felt cool fingers skimming over the side of his ribcage, squirming a little at the tickling sensation that followed. Ishida seemed more intent on kissing him than tormenting him, however, and Ichigo relaxed again as he finally made up his mind to draw Ishida nearer.

Ishida made a small sound of encouragement as Ichigo’s arms wound round his shoulders, and when their lips parted, Ishida began kissing his way across Ichigo’s cheek, along his jaw line, and then the curve of his ear. He murmured Ichigo’s name breathlessly and Ichigo found himself shivering almost violently in response, mainly because it felt good to have Ishida breathing into his ear for some reason, but also because he’d never heard anybody speak to him quite like that before.

Maybe he couldn’t feel Ishida’s spiritual energy the same way Ishida could feel his, but it still felt pretty arousing just to have Ishida kissing, sucking and nipping at his neck.

This time he didn’t bother to hold back his noises as Ishida’s lips travelled down his throat to his collarbone. It tickled, but in a good way, to feel Ishida’s tongue lapping at the hollow of his throat, and as Ishida began to work his way further and further downwards, it grew difficult for Ichigo to keep still, especially when Ishida’s fingertips rubbed slowly over his nipple.

That was when Ichigo realised that Ishida, too, was still new to all of this. His touches were teasing, but also experimental, as though he were testing Ichigo and his reactions to see what he did and didn’t like.

Ichigo would have liked to tell him out loud, but the more things Ishida did to him with his hands and mouth, the more he found himself unable to make anything resembling coherent speech. It grew worse when Ishida decided to toy with him a little, blowing lightly over one stiff nipple and making Ichigo tremble in response. After that, Ishida decided to use his tongue, and then his teeth, and by the time he’d reached Ichigo’s stomach, Ichigo was gasping helplessly and closing his eyes in anticipation.

He could feel Ishida pushing his legs further apart, and he waited, tense and breathless for what Ishida was about to do this time.

He could hear Ishida fumbling for something over the sound of his own panting, but before Ichigo could open his eyes again to see what he was doing, the slick swipe of a tongue over the head of his arousal made him forget about doing anything of the sort as he cried out in shock.

For a second, his mind seemed to have been wiped completely blank before he managed to come back to his senses again, opening his eyes slowly and gazing down at Ishida.

Ishida was holding a bottle of what appeared to be lotion, and Ichigo found himself raising his eyebrows.

“What’s that?” he asked, his voice strained and husky.

“It’s what I use for my hands,” Ishida replied calmly, though he frowned when Ichigo burst out laughing. “Why is it so amusing? I like taking care of my skin!”

Ichigo continued to snicker. “But... but... only *women* do that sort of thing!”

Ishida didn’t seem terribly happy with that particular response, but rather than arguing with Ichigo the way he would have done before, he simply lowered his head and trailed his tongue along the underside of Ichigo’s hard-on.

Ichigo’s laughter quickly turned to cries of startled pleasure, and although he would have dearly loved to wipe the smirk off Ishida’s face, right now, he could barely move a muscle.

Once again, his mind threatened to go blank, as Ishida grew more and more confident with what he was doing. Ichigo couldn’t believe that he’d actually been nervous about all this. It felt amazing... better than amazing, even, and he never wanted it to end.

He supposed he ought to have worked out for himself just *why* Ishida had picked up that bottle, but his brain was still blissfully offline, making thought process fairly impossible at that moment. That explained the shock he felt when a slippery finger began pressing its way inside of him.

His mouth still didn’t seem to work the way he wanted it to, which was why he couldn’t tell Ishida to just stop and wait for a while when he felt a second finger joining the first. He began to panic a little, unsure of whether he’d be able to handle a third, when suddenly, Ishida brushed against a spot that almost caused Ichigo to black out for a second from pure pleasure.

All he could do was stare blankly up at the ceiling as Ishida continued to manipulate that little bundle of nerves, dimly aware of the fact that he was making a whole bunch of new noises that would probably have the neighbours banging on the walls at some point and yelling at him to shut up.

He couldn’t seem to care much, though, nor could he seem to bring himself to stop trembling. When he fixed his gaze on Ishida’s, he saw that the other boy was watching him intently, probably gauging his responses.

Just when Ichigo had started getting used to the feeling of Ishida’s fingers in him, they withdrew, and after a minute or so of heavy panting, Ichigo managed to speak.

“What *was* that?” he asked shakily.

“Didn’t you read any of the books Kuchiki-san gave you?” Ishida said with a smile. Ichigo shook his head vehemently. “That was your prostate. I believe they call it the male equivalent of the female G-spot.”

Ichigo‘s brow furrowed in confusion. “What the Hell’s a G-spot?” Then he shook his head before Ishida could even open his mouth. “No, wait, don’t tell me. I’m not sure I really want to know.”

Now it was Ishida’s turn to chuckle. “As you wish. I wouldn’t want to turn you off or anything.”

Ichigo had just been about to make a retort when Ishida’s hand moved upwards to wrap around his erection. The urge to make some sort of smart-assed comment vanished the second Ishida touched him again. His fingers were still slick from the lotion that he’d used earlier, and Ichigo groaned appreciatively.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have long to enjoy the treatment, because Ishida withdrew his hand a few seconds later, ignoring Ichigo’s irritated growl.

“Hold out your hand,” was all that he said.

Ichigo blinked at him stupidly, but Ishida patiently repeated his instruction until eventually, Ichigo obeyed. Ichigo was still baffled when Ishida poured some of the lotion onto his palm, and he tilted his head quizzically.

“Am I supposed to start taking care of my skin too now?”

Ishida looked as though he could have quite happily smacked him. “No, you moron, you’re supposed to *touch* me.”

Ichigo’s eyes widened as comprehension dawned on him, and a little of the nervousness that he’d felt earlier threatened to return. “T-touch you?” he echoed.

Ishida huffed in exasperation. “Can I trust you to do something for once, or should I take care of it myself?”

“No, no, I can do it.”

And with that, Ichigo mimicked what Ishida had done to him as he curled his fingers around Ishida’s arousal. He’d been expecting some sort of reaction, but it still came as a shock when Ishida hissed as though he’d been scalded. Ichigo withdrew his hand immediately, under the impression that he’d done something wrong, when Ishida snatched it back and returned it to its former place.

“Don’t stop now,” he said hoarsely, holding onto Ichigo’s waist tightly with his free hand.

Ichigo nodded tentatively and lowered his gaze, watching as Ishida’s fingers moved away from his own, leaving them to their task.

Gradually, he began rubbing the lotion into Ishida’s skin, pumping his hand up and down with agonising slowness, at least until he gained a little more confidence. He remembered how good it had felt to have Ishida stroking him like this before, and he wondered if it felt the same for Ishida as it had done for him.

Evidently, Ishida was getting some enjoyment out of it, if the expression on his face was anything to go by. It looked as though he was having a hard time holding himself back, though, and his hips were twitching slightly as Ichigo’s fingers squeezed and slid and stroked over him.

Surprisingly, he didn’t let Ichigo spend too much time touching him, and after only a minute or so had passed, he pulled Ichigo’s hand away.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he said thickly. “I need you.”

Ichigo frowned. “To do what?”

Again, he got the impression that Ishida was on the verge of throttling him, but instead of responding verbally, he simply shifted a little so that he was kneeling between Ichigo’s legs, positioning him in a way that made Ichigo understand without words what would be coming next.

Ichigo’s breath caught in his throat and Ishida seemed to notice his alarm.

“Don’t tense up!” he warned.

“That’s easy for you to say!” Ichigo cried in a strangled-sounding voice, unable to drag his gaze away from Ishida’s crotch.

“Just try to stay relaxed! I promised I wouldn’t hurt you, didn’t I?”

“I can’t relax! It’ll never fit!”

“It will!”

“It won’t!”

“It will!”

“It won’t!”

“Dammit, Kurosaki, if I say it’ll fit, then it’ll fit! Relax and everything will be *fine*!”

“How can I relax when you’re about to shove that thing up my a... a... AHHH!”

Ichigo was too busy struggling to adjust to the sensation of having Ishida inside of him to noticed what Ishida himself was doing right now, but when he successfully managed to keep himself from passing out, he forced his eyes open and stared up at Ishida, yelping in fright at what he saw.

Ishida’s right arm was flung out at an angle, and if the size of his bow when Ichigo’s power had flowed into him as they fought the Menos Grande had been huge, it was nothing compared to how it looked now.

“Put that freaking thing away before you kill us with it!” Ichigo squawked.

“I can’t,” Ishida said through clenched teeth.

“Then stop channelling my energy!”

“I can’t do that either!” Ishida was gasping heavily and sweat had broken out over his brow. “It’s flowing into me, whether I want it to or not, like... like... sticking a plug into a socket.”

Ichigo found that simile to be more than a little embarrassing considering his and Ishida’s current position, but he shook Ishida’s shoulders in the hope that it would inspire him to think of a way to deal with this situation.

“*Do* something, dammit!”

“I told you already, I *can’t*!” Ishida told him tightly. “*You* do something!”

“Like what?”

“Turn off your power!”

“How?!”

“I don’t know, just *try*!”

“Do you want me to pull a cure for cancer out of my ass while I’m at it?”

“Your ass is currently occupied, Kurosaki, in case you hadn’t noticed, so use that thing you call a brain and find a solution before I blow us up!”

But Ichigo knew as much about controlling his spiritual power than he did about how to sprout wings and fly. Just when he was about to tell Ishida to pull out, though, a blood-curdling scream pierced his ears, a scream that that he was far, far too familiar with. Ichigo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“A Hollow,” he groaned. “Perfect timing.”

“It probably couldn’t resist the lure of our combined spiritual powers,” Ishida rasped. “Kurosaki, we have to do something.”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you for the past five minutes? Fuck... just pull out, okay?”

Ishida looked appalled at the very idea. “But why?”

Ichigo could have slapped him. “Because there is a *Hollow* on the way,” he said, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Unless you *want* it to eat us, of course?” He paused. “Oh, and we need to solve the problem of your over-excitable bow as well.”

If anything, Ishida grew even more stricken. “But... but...” Then he brightened. “Wait a second, I can shoot it!”

Ichigo clapped sarcastically. “That’s the first decent idea you’ve had all day. Now listen, pull out, then you can...” He trailed off when Ishida twisted his torso, drawing his bow and aiming it at the window. “You’re not planning to do that here, are you?!”

“Just tell me where to shoot,” Ishida said determinedly. “You have to give me directions,” he added, somewhat apologetically. “I can’t see anything without my glasses.”

“Are you *blind*?” Ichigo roared. “How can you *not* see that thing?!”

“I can’t help the fact that everything is blurry right now!”

“Can’t you even *sense* it?”

“Of course not! Your stupid spiritual energy is blocking out everything else!”

“Then let me up, moron!”

Ichigo struggled to get himself off of his back, but the second he started squirming, Ishida’s body chose to respond by bucking his hips forward, wringing moans from both boys. When Ichigo found himself able to focus again, he glanced out the window and saw the Hollow drawing ever closer.

“Dammit, Ishida!”

“I know, I know!” Ishida’s expression was one of utmost agony, but he managed to follow Ichigo’s gaze, squinting slightly as he tried to get a location on his target. “I think I see it now. Hold on...”

“What the Hell are you aiming at? You’re way off course!”

“Shut up! Don’t act as though I can’t do this!”

But Ishida’s concentration seemed to be on the verge of breaking altogether, and Ichigo growled in frustration.

“Focus, you idiot!”

“I’m *trying*! I can’t help being distracted. It’s all your fault!”

“How is it *my* fault?!”

“Because... because...” Ishida’s hips jerked again. “Nn... Kurosaki...”

Ichigo swore violently. “Dammit, kill the Hollow, *then* we can go back to having sex!”

Ishida seemed intent on doing both things at once, though, in spite of how impractical it was. “Tell me where to shoot.”

“You’re too far right. Just aim straight at the window!”

The Hollow’s screams were growing louder, and Ishida narrowed his eyes, presumably to get a proper glimpse of his target.

“What are you waiting for? Fire!”

Ishida released his arrow and Ichigo shielded his eyes against the flash of blinding light.

“Did I do it?” Ishida asked breathlessly. “Did I kill it?”

Ichigo lowered his arm and stared in shock at his surroundings. “Yeah, you killed it... you also missed the window by about three and a half feet, and you blew a hole in the freaking wall.”

Ishida didn’t seem to be too concerned about the destruction of his apartment, however. He seemed far too determined to finish what he’d started as he gave his full attention back to Ichigo, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back on his shoulders as he slowly established a rhythm.

He still looked slightly ridiculous with his arm flung out like that, but Ichigo wasn’t laughing. He was too busy gripping onto the sheets beneath him, his body jolting as Ishida’s thrusts began to grow more forceful, knocking the air out of his lungs in short staccato pants.

Ishida murmured his name and Ichigo found himself responding in kind, all thoughts of anger and irritation fleeing from his mind in the wake of such powerfully pleasurable sensations. He could feel himself shivering, but it wasn’t from the cold. Ishida had gone back to watching him again, his eyes half-dazed as he stared down at Ichigo.

Ichigo stared back, eventually breaking Ishida’s gaze and sliding his own down to Ishida’s lips. He wanted Ishida to kiss him again, but their mouths were too far apart. Instead, he settled for lifting a shaky hand and pressing it against Ishida’s cheek, gasping when Ishida nuzzled against his palm, flicking his tongue out over Ichigo’s skin.

It took Ichigo a few seconds to notice that Ishida had been trying to say something to him, and if his face hadn’t already been flushed from their exertions, he would have started blushing for sure in response to Ishida’s command.

“Touch yourself,” Ishida told him.

There hadn’t been any time for Ichigo to feel embarrassed, nor did he find himself feeling as shy and awkward as he usually might.

He let his hand fall from where it had been resting against Ishida’s cheek and lowered it down to his stomach, pausing for a second under the weight of Ishida’s hungry gaze, before moving down further and taking hold of his erection.

Ishida moaned in excitement as Ichigo tightened his fingers, sliding them easily up and down hard, heated flesh. Ishida’s thrusts were getting more and more erratic, and Ichigo moved his hand faster, rocking back against Ishida and crying out when he finally lost all sense of control.

He found himself pondering the messy business that was sex later on, though, as both he and Ishida worked on catching their breath. He also wondered if they were going to solve the problem of how to keep his powers from flowing into Ishida, but for now, Ishida wasn’t complaining about it. He wasn’t complaining about anything, actually, but that probably had something to do with his blissfully relaxed expression. Ichigo couldn’t remember ever seeing him so happy before, and he felt kind of bad about bursting Ishida’s bubble, but he had to speak up.

“Ishida?”

A sleepy-sounding grunt was all the response that he got, so Ichigo sighed and tried again.

“Ishida, I think we ought to get dressed.”

Another little grunt, this time accompanied by muffled speech. “Can’t move. Too comfortable.”

“I know, but we need to get up. I can hear sirens. I really don’t want the emergency services to find us looking like this.”

That got Ishida’s attention, and he glanced over at the mess he’d made of the wall as if seeing it for the very first time.

“Oh. Oh dear...”

 

End.


End file.
